Eternal Legacy
by 1358456
Summary: A story based on Pokémon Special, the manga. The Dex Holders have a legacy of protecting the world from evil in times of chaos, but have normal lives in peaceful times. When a former evil starts to rise, they must do whatever it takes to prevent chaos, but is it all a part of a grander scheme?
1. Prologue - Kanto

**Welcome to my final story, Eternal Legacy, or Legacy for short.**

 **If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I will answer on my Tumblr.**

 **Legacy is set after the XY arc, but compresses the age gaps between several Dex Holders in order to prevent a 20 year gap between the oldest and the youngest.**

 **Warning:  
As usual in my stories, Legacy will contain scenes of blood, not entirely gruesome content (no one's going to lose a limb, for example), and will definitely have some bad f*cking language.**

 **Note:  
Due to the sheer amount of necessary background events for Legacy, the first 3 chapters will all be prologues, divided by region. This 3-part prologue will also serve as most of the slow build-up before sh*t really starts happening.**

* * *

Prologue – Kanto:

May 28, One Island, 11 am…

Blue finished packing up her belongings in her bag. There… really wasn't much to pack. She never really had much stuff to begin with, given her past. For years, she had to steal the bare necessities in order to live, and never had the luxury of having… fancy stuff. Even now, her belongings mostly consisted of a sketchbook, an extra set of clothes, a small handful of beauty products, and a small selection of high tech devices that she had stolen many years ago that she had tinkered with and improved upon in her spare time.

She looked at her bag and sighed. … She never really had a lot of stuff. And she was about to have a lot less. Right now, she was living in her parents' house, with her new… _old_ family. She didn't know what to say, actually. Living with her parents didn't really turn out as she thought it would. Before she met them again, she always dreamed about it, living as a whole happy family. Maybe deep inside, she knew that it wouldn't really work out, but she never gave much thought about it.

But nowadays, Blue had plenty of time to think, and she knew that things weren't working out. She loved her parents, of course, and they loved her. But she had spent nearly 12 years living by herself since her kidnapping to the reunion. She had grown far too independent. Similarly, her parents had lived 12 years without her. They were certainly not used to the independent girl that was their daughter.

And of course, there was the _new_ family member. Her parents had another kid. … Another daughter. Blue had very… mixed feelings about this. On one hand, she was used to acting like an older sister (thanks to Silver), so she was okay. And having a younger sister was… fun. But on the other, it was clear that her parents had moved on since the kidnapping, and this new daughter was basically a replacement. And at times, Blue got the impression that she was… intruding on a happy little family of 3. Most of the times, she felt like a complete stranger.

For years, Blue tried to get close to her new family, but failed. No matter how hard she tried, she still felt like a stranger intruding on a happy little family. To her parents, she felt like a reminder of a bad past. Her existence alone seemed to remind them of the daughter they lost due to kidnapping, and the same daughter that they never got back, since she had changed so drastically over the years. And to her little sister, she felt like a stranger that suddenly appeared who was apparently an older sister.

In the years since the reunion, Blue had actually spent a lot of time wandering around the various regions for the sole purpose of giving her family some time away from her. But that was not something she could continue. Every time she left on a trip, her parents had given her spending money. And Blue felt like she was just wasting their money while only causing discomfort to everyone.

So she couldn't stay with her new family, but couldn't continuously leave on a journey either. The solution was straight forward. She would leave her new family and live on her own, as she had for so many years. Even if it meant that she'd have to live in some run down shack of a secret base that she had built with Silver so many years ago.

It was probably better to leave on happy terms than sticking around until something went horribly wrong. Given the drastically different personalities, it was likely that eventually, Blue would get into a huge argument with her new sister, and many hurtful things would be said. It was best to leave before that happened.

With her bag strapped over her shoulders, Blue went downstairs to say goodbye to her family.

Both of her parents and their new daughter were already seated in the living room, talking and laughing. The moment Blue entered the living room, everyone suddenly fell silent.

Blue's eyes twitched a little at this reaction. … For some reason, this always happened. Every time her family was engaged in a conversation and she appeared, the conversation ended awkwardly, as if it was something that she must not hear. … Another reason she had to leave.

"Mom, daddy…" Blue began, forcing herself to remain strong. "… I have to tell you something."

…

Pallet Town…

…

Red yawned as he remained lying down on the couch. … He felt so damn bored. He wanted to train or battle with someone, but no one was available that was strong enough for him. The only person strong enough had gone over to Kalos to meet with that region's champion.

There was only one other Dex Holder within Pallet Town, and that was Crystal. And the girl didn't really battle. … And she was working right now, so dragging her away for training or battle was not going to happen.

Yellow was in Viridian Forest, but she's nowhere near strong enough. The next nearest Dex Holder was Gold in New Bark Town (and Silver too, apparently), but Red had been training with him and only him for a while now.

It was a shame that Platinum was going to visit him _next week_. Her visit would not alleviate his boredom _right now_.

Red took out his Pokégear, looking at the list of contacts. Maybe Blue could help out? She was certainly capable in battling, though she may not particularly care much about it. But he doubted that she'd come all the way to Pallet Town just to train. Maybe a friendly hang-out then?

Come to think of it, he hadn't seen her in a long while. She lived too far away for frequent visits, but not far enough to warrant a multiple-day visit. Maybe he could convince her to move somewhere closer. Although… Blue was now living with her parents after being separated so long. She might not want to move out.

And speaking of Blue, her birthday was coming up, wasn't it? Red looked over at the calendar. As always, he had forgotten to mark everyone's birthdays on the calendar. And now he forgot most everyone's birthdays. And he couldn't _ask_ Blue about her birthday.

Red slowly got up to his feet. He was sure that Crystal would know when exactly Blue's birthday would be, so he was going to ask her.

Within a few minutes, he arrived at Prof. Oak's lab, where Crystal was working. As usual, there were hardly any people inside. With the professor gone to Goldenrod to record a supposedly-live radio show, there was probably only Crystal left.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Red called out.

"Hi, Red," came a cheerful female voice from somewhere deeper in the lab.

Red followed the voice and soon came across one of the research rooms. He knocked on the door for courtesy before opening it, but didn't enter the room. He spotted Crystal writing something on a notebook while observing something on the table.

"Hey, Crys," Red said.

Crystal turned to face her senior and gave him a bright smile. "Hi. Were you looking for someone?"

"Eh, I have a question I'd like to ask," Red answered.

"Sure. But… what are you doing out there? Come inside," Crystal said, noticing the fact that her senior was still outside the room.

Red chuckled. "Well… the last time I was in that room over 10 years ago, I accidentally released every Pokémon, and Professor Oak and I had a hell of a time trying to get them all back. … Ever since then, I've been permanently banned from going in there."

Crystal smiled. "I'm sure that Professor Oak wouldn't mind now if you came in, but… rules are rules, I guess." She set everything down on the table before leaving the room to talk to Red face to face. She straightened out her lab coat as she stood in front of him. "Okay then, what question did you want to ask?"

Red rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm pretty sure that Blue's birthday is coming up soon, but I don't know when it is exactly. And I don't think I can ask her that question. So would you happen to know?"

Crystal lightly tilted her head as she thought for a second. "Hmm… I think Blue's birthday was right after Emerald's, and Emerald's birthday is May 31."

"That's great," Red said. "It gives just enough time to prepare for her birthday. I haven't seen her in a while, so it's the best time to catch up."

"Great idea," Crystal said with a nod. "I'm sure she'd be really happy."

…

Few hours later, classified location, Kanto…

…

Blue looked up from her sketchbook when her Pokégear began to ring. Were her parents calling? Were they calling to try to convince her to return home? Or just to check whether she was all set by herself? She checked the Pokégear and noticed that it was Red calling, not her parents. Blue momentarily hesitated, as this wasn't the best time. But she couldn't ignore his call and reluctantly answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Blue, it's Red," Red said.

"Hi, Red," Blue said, trying to sound cheerful.

"So your birthday is coming up, and I wanted to ask. Would you want a big party, or a small one?"

Blue blinked a few times. "Birth…day?"

"Yeah. Your birthday is June 1, right?" Red asked. "It's just a few days away, and I wanted to know ahead of time."

Blue suddenly felt a sheepish smile forming on her lips. "… You don't have to do that, Red."

"Of course I do. It's been a long while since we last saw each other, and what better time to hang out and catch up than your birthday?"

Blue lowered her head and smiled as she felt… warmth all over her body. "… Thanks, Red. I really appreciate that."

"So, would you like a small party, or a big one?" Red asked again.

"Keep it small, please. Just a few people."

"Will do. So I'll see you at my place on your birthday at… noon."

"Okay. I'll see you then." Blue soon hung up and stared at the Pokégear for a while, feeling… happy. "Oh, Red…"

She put away her Pokégear and tried to focus on her sketchbook again. But her thoughts were focused on Red, and she couldn't concentrate on drawing. With a content sigh, she put away her sketchbook as well and looked at her Ditto that was sliming around.

"Let's go on a walk, Ditty. It's too good of a day to waste indoors."

…

3 days later, June 1, Pallet Town…

…

Blue slowly descended onto Pallet Town at the promised time. The Ditto-Jigglypuff gently landed, allowing Blue to hop off and return the Pokémon back into its ball.

Blue took a brief moment to take a deep breath. The air of Pallet Town was always so calm and soothing. Maybe that was because her subconscious longed for Pallet Town ever since she had been kidnapped.

Upon arriving at Red's house, she straightened out her clothes and her hair before knocking on the door. Red answered pretty quickly.

"Hey, you're here!" he said with a bright smile. "Welcome!"

"Thanks, Red," Blue said with a smile of her own.

"Now that you're here, we can begin. Come on in."

There were four other Dex Holders in the house: Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal. Red hadn't invited the other Dex Holders since they were all living quite far away, and Blue had wanted a small party.

"Long time no see, everyone," Blue said to everyone. "Well, except Silver, anyways. How's your _new home_ , Silver?"

"Real good," Silver said. "Lots of good food, entertainment, and comfort."

"In _unrelated_ news," Gold said from behind. "My refrigerator has seen an 85% drop in food storage. For _some reason_ , whenever there are some leftovers in any meal, they're magically consumed by _someone_ within the hour! It's as if Dia is secretly living in my house."

Silver let out a cough. "… It's good food."

"Gold, you should be nice to your new housemate," Blue said. "This is the first time Silver gets to live in an actual house with 3 proper meals per day."

"I know," Gold grumbled. "At least he helps around in the house. Having an extra set of hands for various house chores is nice."

"But Gold, what are you doing here?" Blue asked. "I wouldn't have thought that you'd come to my birthday party."

"I told him to come," Crystal said. "I thought it'd be rude to invite Silver over but not Gold since they're living in the same house. And I figured that we'd need an extra set of hands with the party preparation and all."

"And he's actually helpful?" Blue asked.

"Yes," Crystal said with a smile. "We have a… deal going on. He has to be on good behavior. And part of that means helping out when a senior has a birthday party."

"Well, thanks, Gold," Blue said with a nod.

Gold simply gave her an exaggerated bow before moving on to resume setting up the dinner table.

"All right, Blue," Red said. "It's your birthday, so just sit down, relax, and enjoy."

"Sure thing."

…

Several hours later…

…

Blue watched as Gold and Silver left for New Bark Town. They were the last to leave, which officially ended the birthday party. Blue waved at Silver before she focused her attention to the setting sun.

The birthday party has been very enjoyable. The food was very good, and she found it surprising that Gold and Crystal could cook so well. She doubted that Gold could cook so well. But she also doubted that Crystal could do so as well, given how she worked all the time and never had the time to practice cooking.

After the meal, everyone ate the cake that Red had bought while playing a board game that Silver brought… from Gold's house. And Blue hasn't had this much fun in _years_ , maybe for the first time ever. She always knew that she felt… lonely, so just spending time with others was just enjoyable.

"Did you have fun?" Red asked once Gold and Silver were out of sight range.

"Sure did," Blue said with a happy smile. "Thank you so much."

"We should do this more often," Red said. "But you live too far away for a frequent hangout, you know? The Sevii Islands are just way too far away from Kanto mainland."

"Oh, I don't live there anym-" Blue quickly held her tongue, as she didn't want anyone to know about her leaving her parents' home. But it was too late, and she knew it.

"What? Did you move out of your parents' place? Why?" Red asked, sounding concerned.

Blue let out a sigh. "… Damn it…"

"Blue? Why did you move out of your parents' house? I thought you'd like living with them."

Blue forced herself to smile. "I… didn't feel at home there. So I moved out." Red was still looking at her, waiting for the proper explanation, and Blue couldn't resist for long. "… I felt like I was intruding. My parents have another daughter. She's basically a replacement for me. And that little family has lived without me for 12 years. And all of a sudden, I have to live with them. … Things weren't going to work out. Hell, I spent most of my time in the past few years traveling to other regions, giving my new family some time to themselves. At this rate, we'd only drift further apart, so I… left. That way, we'd have separated while we're still on good terms."

Red slowly nodded. "If that's what you felt was the best choice, then I won't question you. But I'm worried about you. Where are you living now?"

"I'm back to living where I have before I went to live with my parents," Blue answered.

Red frowned a bit. "Wait. You said to Gold that this was the first time that Silver actually lived in a house, eating 3 proper meals per day. But he was living with you the whole time before you moved into your parents' place. So that means that you are now back to living in a place that's _not_ an actual house, and you are now once again _not_ eating 3 proper meals per day."

Blue's eyes drifted to the side as she thought for a second. "… I said that, didn't I?" she muttered with a bittersweet smile. "Crap…"

"That won't do," Red said as he shook his head. "Blue, I can't let you go back to living like _that_. No, no, no. Why don't you come live with me, then?"

Blue blinked a few times, taken aback by the sudden offer. "Wh – What?"

"You saw how big the house was during the party," Red said. "So you know that there's plenty of space. It's a bit too big for one person. And while I don't know about eating 3 proper meals per day since I'm not that good at making food, but I can guarantee you a proper house to live in. What do you say?"

"Are… are you sure?"

"Why not? You obviously need a _real_ place to live, and I have plenty of space here, so I don't mind."

Blue looked into his warm red eyes for a while before she lowered her head and smiled. "… Okay… I'll accept. Thank you."

"Great!" Red said happily. He extended a hand. "Welcome to my house! Or should I say, _our_ house!"

Blue sheepishly accepted his hand and shook it. "I still have to go back to my place and get my stuff, so… I'll be back."

"All right. I'll be waiting."

Blue sent out her Ditto which morphed into a Jigglypuff and rapidly inflated itself. Blue gently hopped on and waved at Red as she steadily floated towards the sky. Red watched her leave before going back into his house to clean up the mess made by the party.

The sun had completely set by the time Blue returned. Red had finished cleaning up by this time, and had even taken a shower so that he could sleep.

"The bathroom is upstairs in the bedroom," Red said as Blue temporarily put her belongings in the corner of the living room. "So take a shower and sleep on the bed."

"Wait, what? Then where are you going to sleep?" Blue asked in surprise.

"Down here, of course," Red answered. "I've slept on the couch before. It can be surprisingly comfortable."

"Come on, Red. It's already much for you to let me live in your house, but it's too much for me to… kick the owner out of his own bed."

"Don't worry about it," Red said with a smile. "Besides, I can't be in the bedroom when you're taking a shower. Again, the bathroom is connected to the bedroom, so it's best for me to be down here while you're drying off for the night. And I'm really tired right now, so I can't really wait for you to finish either. So don't worry about it, take a nice long shower and just sleep on the bed. I'll see you in the morning."

And without waiting for a response, Red plopped onto the couch, preparing to sleep. Blue reluctantly headed upstairs to take a shower. Almost an hour later, she had finished with her shower and finished drying off completely. She quickly got dressed for the night and headed downstairs to check up on Red. Halfway down the stairs, she could hear his snoring. Since he was sleeping so soundly, she chose to leave him be and headed back upstairs to sleep on the bed.

But unfortunately, she couldn't sleep; not while knowing that Red was sleeping on a couch because of her. The guilt was too much. Even though Red had volunteered, he obviously wouldn't have done so if she wasn't going to live with him. And… was this going to happen every day? Knowing Red, he'd offer the bed to her and sleep on the couch every day. And that was definitely too much. Blue refused to be insensitive and let the homeowner sleep on the couch every day.

She soon got off of the bed and quietly made her way downstairs again. She can't sleep if Red was going to sleep downstairs on the couch. But Red wouldn't allow her to sleep on the couch while he took the bed. So there was only one logical solution.

Blue reached the living room and spotted Red sleeping lightly on the couch, no longer snoring. She lightly shook him by the shoulder.

"Red, wake up."

Red mumbled a bit before he woke up and looked up at her. "Huh? … Oh, hey, Blue. What is it?"

"… Red, I can't sleep," Blue said as she crouched to meet his eye level. "Not while you're down here, sleeping on a couch. You look quite uncomfortable."

"Nah, it's fine," Red said, but Blue wouldn't let him.

"Look, I can't sleep like this. No. And I know that you won't let me sleep on the couch or the floor. So the only solution is for you to sleep on the bed as well. It's big enough for us to share without difficulties."

"What?"

"It's the best solution. I can't sleep on the bed while you're down here. You won't sleep on the bed if I'm down here. And both of us sleeping down here and leaving the bed unoccupied is just silly. So the best solution is for us to share the bed."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Just come upstairs, Red."

Blue didn't wait for a response and headed upstairs first. She got onto the bed and made sure to stay on her half of the bed, giving Red ample space. Red showed up a few minutes later, visibly hesitating. Blue closed her eyes, feeling her guilt being alleviated. She smiled as she felt the bed moving from Red lying down on the other half of the bed.

"Sorry, Blue," Red said as he settled down. "And good night."

"Thanks, Red," Blue said in response. "And good night."

…

Next morning…

…

Blue slowly woke up from her sleep. She had such a good sleep for the first time in… years. Even now, she felt so comfortable, she didn't want to get off the bed, ever. She felt so warm and… … Wait a minute…

She suddenly remembered that she was sleeping on Red's bed, and… Red was sleeping on the same bed as well. Blue quickly sat up and glanced around. She found him sleeping peacefully on the bed right behind her, and… it appeared that she had been using his chest as a pillow.

Blue slowly smiled as she watched his peaceful expression, as he lightly snored. He looked so… adorable. For a while, she just stared at his face as a lot of thoughts flooded her mind. She recalled how she felt when she left her parents' house, how lonely she felt, and how depressed she was. But one call from Red had changed all that when he asked her about her birthday party.

The birthday party was so amazing, she never had so much fun before. And just before she could return to her dark life, Red had offered her a place to live. Just like he did when she first saw him, he was once again unknowingly helping her escape her dark life and finally attaining happiness.

She owed him so much, that it was impossible for her to repay him for everything. And she knew that Red would continue to offer her everything. As always, he was the key in her life to happiness. And she suddenly couldn't resist anymore.

Blue slowly crawled onto the bed, crawling right over Red until she reached his face. She glanced down to make sure that her knees weren't going to make contact with him, as she really didn't want to wake him up right now. Once she was satisfied, she leaned towards his face, being careful to avoid making a sound. She lowered her head to give him a kiss on the cheek, but stopped just before her lips made contact.

'… _No… I can't do this…_ ' she thought as she remained frozen in place. ' _… He deserves the absolute best… and that is definitely not me. … He's always so happy and cheerful. I can't let someone like me darken his life. … Does he even like me in that way?_ ' Blue closed her eyes and slowly backed away. Once she got off of the bed entirely, she took a few steps back to watch Red from a "safe" distance. ' _… He doesn't like me the way I like him. And even if he does… I'm not good enough for him. … Yellow likes him too. I can't do anything to Red fully knowing that._ ' She let out a quiet sigh. ' _I can't let him know, ever. I have to keep everything under control. … I'll just make breakfast now. I know that Red can't really cook well, so I can repay a bit of my debts by making good food for him._ '

Blue looked at Red's peaceful sleeping face for another few seconds before heading downstairs. It would be difficult for her to keep everything hidden when she was now living in the same house as him, and even sharing the bed at night. But this was too important for her emotions to ruin it. There was a delicate balance here. She had to use this opportunity to finally be happy. But at the same time, she had to keep her own feelings down so that she wouldn't negatively impact Red.

* * *

 **This part of the prologue was to show the steps that led to Blue living in Red's house, which is important for the main story, but doesn't really fit anywhere on it.**

 **The second half of this part may feel rushed, because there's a lot of points to cover all within this one prologue part.**

 **Part 2 of the prologue, which focuses on Sinnoh, should be out soon. Perhaps.**


	2. Prologue - Sinnoh

**Part 2 of the prologue, which focuses on the new developments for the Sinnoh Dex Holders. And by "Sinnoh Dex Holders", I just mean Platinum, since the other two already have full teams that won't be edited. As usual, I will assume that Platinum will return the 3 Pokémon in her team that belongs to the Sinnoh Gym Leaders, since the initial deal was to only borrow them for the Team Galactic incident.**

* * *

Prologue – Sinnoh:

June 6, Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh, 8 pm…

"Thank you for inviting me to your birthday party," Platinum said with a bright smile as she stood outside of Pearl's house. "I had a wonderful time."

"Thanks for coming, Miss Lady," Pearl said with a smile as well.

"Sorry we had to go for a simple party," Diamond said. "But given our current situation, we couldn't really go for a fancy event."

"Yeah, I know," Pearl said.

"Current situation?" Platinum asked. "What do you mean?"

"Our resident chef Dia here is going to attend a few culinary classes held by some of the most famous chefs in Sinnoh," Pearl explained. "And the classes begin in just a few days, so there's not enough time for a big birthday event in some remote location."

"And Pearl here is going off to spend time with his dad in the Battle Frontier," Diamond said as well. "And he's leaving tomorrow, so again, no time for a party somewhere far away from Twinleaf."

Platinum glanced back and forth between both of her friends. "Both of you are busy this week?"

"Yeah," Diamond said. "Why?"

Platinum slightly lowered her head. "I promised senior Red that I would visit him. I was supposed to visit him last week, but I had to stay here in Sinnoh for your birthday, Pearl. And now that it is over, I had hoped that I could go to Kanto with both of you."

"Oh. I'd really love to go with you, Lady, but unfortunately, these culinary classes are a special event that won't occur again, so I can't afford to miss it."

"And I'm going to see my dad because it's my birthday, so I can't delay it either," Pearl said. "… This is quite the inconvenient timing, huh?"

Platinum let out a short sigh. "Oh well. It cannot be helped. Enjoy your time with your family, Pearl. And Diamond, do try your best at the culinary classes. I look forward to seeing how much you improved." She smiled again and tilted her head a bit. "Though I do believe that you are a perfect chef as is."

"There's always room for improvement," Diamond said.

"All right then, I have to pack my stuff for the trip to the Battle Frontier," Pearl said. "I'll see you two later."

Diamond and Platinum nodded and waved at their friend as he waved back and closed the door. Platinum soon headed towards the bus stop for a ride to Sandgem Town and Diamond accompanied her.

"I'm sorry if I disappointed you, Lady," he said apologetically.

"Oh, no, it is okay," Platinum said quickly. "This is very important to you and I understand perfectly. We can always go to Kanto together at another time. Senior Red's birthday is in two months, so we can go to Kanto together then."

"That'd be great."

Soon, the two Sinnoh Dex Holders arrived at the bus stop and the bus heading to Sandgem Town came to a stop.

"Have fun and be careful in your trip to Kanto, Lady," Diamond said with a wave as Platinum boarded the bus. "I'll see you when you return."

Platinum smiled brightly and waved at Diamond as the bus door closed. She took her seat by the windows and resumed waving at Diamond as the bus started to move once more. Once he was out of sight, she let out a short sigh. She had really wanted to go with him to Kanto, and even though she perfectly understood his reasons, she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

…

3 days later, June 9, Route 1, Kanto, 1 pm…

…

Platinum tapped her Rapidash to signal a stop. The Rapidash obeyed and came to a stop just as it entered the boundaries of Pallet Town. Platinum let go of the luggage bag she was dragging along and hopped off of her Pokémon. Now that she was in Pallet Town, she intended to enjoy a nice peaceful walk towards Red's house while giving her Rapidash a well deserved rest.

"Thank you," she said with a smile as she gently embraced the Rapidash. She then returned it to its ball and put it back in her bag. With a deep breath, she grabbed her luggage bag and proceeded to walk towards Red's house.

She had been to Red's house a few times in the past, so she remembered exactly where it was. It was also pretty difficult to _not_ remember its exact whereabouts since Pallet Town wasn't that big.

As she approached Red's house, she spotted someone crouching in Red's backyard. Platinum frowned as she never recalled Red ever being outside in the backyard. She quickened her pace and reached for her Empoleon's Pokéball in case of there being some foul play. But as she rapidly approached, she recognized the suspicious person in the backyard, and she stopped in her tracks.

"Senior Blue?"

Platinum tilted her head, wondering what exactly the Kanto Dex Holder was doing. But she figured that nothing bad would happen, so she resumed walking towards her. Blue seemed to have heard her coming, as she rose to her feet and turned around.

"Oh, hi, Platinum," she said with a bright smile. "Long time no see."

Platinum gave her a polite bow. "Hello, senior. It is wonderful to see you again." She made a little attempt to glance past Blue to see what she had been doing. "Are you visiting senior Red as well?"

"Huh? Well… not really," Blue answered. "… I live here now."

Platinum blinked a few times as she tried to process the information. "I was under the belief that you were living with your long lost parents."

Blue's expression darkened slightly. "I was, but… things weren't working out and I moved out. I had nowhere else to go, and Red offered me to live with him."

"Oh. I am so sorry, senior," Platinum said, feeling sympathy for bringing up a painful memory.

Blue smiled brightly once more. "But it's okay! I really like it living here. I haven't been this comfortable and happy in years!"

Platinum lightened her expression once more. "Oh. In that case… congratulations, senior!"

"Thanks." Blue took a step to the side so Platinum could see what was behind her. "Now, if you were wondering what exactly I was doing out here, crouching in the backyard… it's this."

Platinum looked at what was hidden behind her senior and saw a small berry tree growing. "Oh, a berry tree?"

"Yep. It's something I'm planting here and there for fun, and for some free berry snacks," Blue said. "At times like this when Red isn't home, I have nothing to do. So to kill some time, I've planted a few berries here and there. They're all Pecha Berries, though, because they're the tastiest and they grow quickly." She signaled Platinum to follow and began to walk towards the front door of Red's house. "So, what brings you all the way here?"

"Senior Red wanted me to visit him last week, but I was unable because Pearl's birthday was coming up. And now that the birthday had passed, I have come as he wished. Unfortunately, both Diamond and Pearl were busy so they are not with me."

"Ah, so a friendly hangout, huh? That's nice. Enjoy your stay here. It's really nice and peaceful. Red will be back in a bit, so you won't have to wait that long to see him. He's just gone over to Celadon City to pick up something from the department store." Blue glanced at the big luggage that Platinum was dragging behind her. "So… in the meantime, I guess you can unpack. Seems like you brought quite a lot of stuff with you."

"Most of these are gifts from Sinnoh," Platinum explained.

"Oh? … Got any for me?"

"Of course, senior. I will gladly show you."

…

Next day, June 10, 12 pm…

…

"Very good, Platinum," Red said as he gave his junior a light applause. "You're certainly getting more and more used to using your Mega Lopunny."

Platinum returned her Pokémon and gave her senior a polite bow. "Thank you, senior. I have been practicing with Lopunny for quite some time now. It has gotten used to its strength and speed increase and can manage itself much more effectively in battle."

Blue walked over and gave both Red and Platinum a cup of ice water. "I noticed that you still only have 3 Pokémon in your team, Platinum. That means you're effectively at only half strength in a battle. Have you considered filling up your team?"

"I have, but I do not have much opportunity to find wild Pokémon," Platinum answered. "But…"

"In cases like this, not only does the trainer have to pick the Pokémon, but the Pokémon also has to pick you," Red said. "So… going out there and catching a random Pidgey or Rattata won't work at all. … Or in your case, a random Bidoof or Starly."

Blue tilted her head as she thought about Platinum with a Bibarel or a Staraptor. "… And I don't think either Pokémon will suit you." She smiled as she glanced over at Red. "But I think we can help you with at least one Pokémon."

"You can?" Platinum asked in surprise.

Red saw Blue's gaze and soon nodded. "Yeah. See, just a few days ago, my Vee and Blue's Ditto got together and had an egg. And I'm thinking that it'd be best if you took care of it for us."

"An egg?"

"Yeah. It'll need someone to take good care of it. Someone with experience in hatching, preferably. And while we could ask Gold to do it since that's his job and all, but… given his _ability_ to get the hatched Pokémon to take after his own personality, we figured that it'd be best if the Eevee was given to someone else," Red said.

"You once told us that you took care of a Manaphy egg," Blue said. "And you even took care of the hatched Phione. So we figured that you'd be the best person to take care of the Eevee egg."

"And once it hatches, I'm sure it'll become a great addition to your team," Red said.

"So Platinum, could you take care of this Eevee egg for us? And can you promise to give it the care and affection it needs?" Blue asked, studying her junior's expression.

"Oh, senior! I – I would be delighted!" Platinum exclaimed happily, clasping her hands in front of her. "Thank you so much!"

"Great," Red said with a smile. "Come on in, and I'll give you that egg."

Platinum quickly followed Red as he headed back inside his house. He led her upstairs to his room, and on a desk was an Eevee egg inside a portable incubator canister. Red gently lifted the canister and looked at the egg inside for a moment before he handed it to Platinum.

The heiress excitedly but carefully received the canister with both hands, as if she was handling something insanely fragile. "Thank you so much, senior," she said, unable to contain her joy. "I promise to take good care of it and live up to your trust in me."

"I'm sure you'll do well, kid," Blue said with a smile.

"Oh, I must show everyone," Platinum said as she practically hugged the incubator canister. "May I use the picture phone here?"

"Go right ahead," Red said. "It's in the living room."

"Thank you." With a quick bow, the girl excitedly left to make a series of calls to Sinnoh.

"Giving the egg to Platinum was a really good choice," Red said as he looked over at Blue.

"I didn't think she'd be this happy," Blue said. "But it's great to see her like this. And knowing her, she'll definitely take care of that egg and the eventual Eevee much better than anyone else. And it'd certainly be better than having a Gold-natured baby Eevee that gambles with cards and plays billiards. We don't want to have a repeat of his Togepi and Pichu. Even though he may be behaving pretty well lately… he's still Gold."

Meanwhile…

"Gold! Stop sneezing on me!" Crystal said angrily as she stood up from her seat. "I told you to watch your manners!"

"But… but…" Gold stammered out, feeling the dread of yet another failure. "This isn't my fault!"

Crystal shook her head. "Your behavior might be improving, but you still have no manners. So close, yet so far. Try again, Gold." With a huff of disgust, she wiped away the spittle splattered on her face with a napkin and stormed out of the restaurant. But once she turned around, she let out a quiet sigh of relief and smiled.

"Argh!" Gold groaned as he smacked a hand over his face. "… And so the cycle begins again! This… _infinite_ cycle has to come to an end some day!"

…

Several days later, June 16, New Bark Town, Johto, 1 pm…

…

Platinum gently held the egg canister with one arm as she knocked on the door to Gold's house. Now that she had to take good care of the Eevee egg, Platinum was determined to give it the best damn care possible. And to do that, she had to know what to do with it, by asking for help with those who were far more experienced in dealing with eggs.

The first thing that came to mind was the daycare center in Solaceon Town of Sinnoh, since that was where she got to take care of the hatched Phione with Diamond and Pearl. But the daycare couple had talked about Gold, so the heiress figured that asking her senior would be quite beneficial as well. Although Red and Blue were a bit _concerned_ about Gold's ability to pass his own personality traits onto the hatched Pokémon, if Platinum just got advice from Gold instead of letting him hatch it, surely there will be no problems?

Before long, Gold opened the front door and momentarily looked surprised to see her.

"Hey, it's been a while," he said eventually. "… What brings you all the way out here in Johto? … And is that an egg?"

Platinum slightly bowed while holding the egg canister with both hands once more. "Hello, senior. I have been staying at senior Red's house recently and he has given me the offspring between his Espeon and senior Blue's Ditto. I have come here today to seek advice from you, senior, as you are far more experienced in hatching eggs than I am. Can you please teach me?"

"An Eevee egg, huh?" Gold said as he lowered himself to look at the egg more closely. "Looking good so far. All right, then. Come on in."

Platinum followed Gold as he led her inside his house. And the moment she stepped inside, she could hear loud noises coming from somewhere deeper in the house, almost like… a kid's television show.

"What is that noise?"

Gold let out a sigh. "A certain freeloader is watching his damn favorite robot show. And I can't do anything about this freeloader because… if I do, senior Blue will murder me." He took a deep breath as he prepared to shout. "Hey Silver! Lower the volume, would you?!" He lightly shook his head as the television volume was _increased_. "I have a job to do here!" he yelled again, but nothing happened. "Don't make me tell Crys that you're interfering!" He looked over at Platinum. "You'll be my witness, right?"

"Witness?"

"Yeah. I mean, senior Red gave you an egg to look after, so you came to me for some advice. And I was definitely willing to help out, but a certain freeloader's overly loud television show was too distracting for me to properly help you. Crys will only believe me if you're the witness."

Platinum understood. She cleared her throat and prepared to _talk_ over the loud noises. "Yes of course, senior! I will gladly tell senior Crystal about this!"

As expected, Silver rapidly lowered the volume of the television to acceptable levels. Gold smiled in triumph and gave Platinum a thumbs-up before resuming leading her towards the basement.

"So, what type of advice do you need?" Gold asked as he sat on the couch in the basement.

Platinum sat next to him and looked at the egg. "I would like to know what I should be doing in order to give this egg the optimal hatching conditions."

Gold nodded. "Okay. Now, the first thing you should know is that you shouldn't keep the egg in that canister. It's useful for when you're on the move, as the canister will prevent that egg from shaking too much. But when you're at home, you should let the egg out and hold it yourself. It'll hatch faster that way. And you can just put it back in the canister when you're done with it."

Platinum set the canister on the table in front of her and took out a small notebook from her bag. She wrote down what Gold just said onto the page.

"The important thing here is touch. You want to hold that egg yourself as much as possible," Gold continued once Platinum finished writing. "The objective here is to get the Pokémon inside to subconsciously get used to your touch. That way, the moment it hatches, it won't bite you in fright or run away. But just remember to be careful when you're holding the egg yourself. It's tougher than you'd think, but not at the same time. So just be careful, and make sure not to shake it too much."

"I will be careful, senior," Platinum said as she finished writing once more.

"Good. The next thing… is for you to talk to it often. Obviously, you can't have a conversation with it or anything, but you should still talk to it often. The objective here is to get the Pokémon to get used to hearing your voice. It may be awkward at first, talking to an egg. But do it enough, and you'll get used to it." He glanced at the egg canister. "Now obviously, the Pokémon in the egg won't hear you if it's in there. So do remember to let it out often."

"I understand."

"And once the Pokémon inside is accustomed to you, befriending it will take no time at all. And if you spend enough time with it before it hatches, it'll definitely love you, and it'll evolve into Espeon or Umbreon in no time. … Say, what do you want it to evolve into, anyways?"

"I am not sure," Platinum answered honestly. "I have not thought about it. But since senior Red has an Espeon and Y has a Sylveon, I would prefer if this Eevee evolved into something else."

Gold searched through his Pokédex for the data on Eevee. "Good thing it has like 9 million evolutions. I'm sure you can find an evolution form that you like that no other Dex Holder has." He put his Pokédex away and looked at Platinum once more. "Oh, and another thing you should know…"

A couple of hours later, Platinum finished with her "learning session" with Gold. She found him to be surprisingly helpful, and he had taught her quite a lot about egg handling without any sort of tasteless jokes. The heiress was aware that Gold and Crystal had some sort of a deal going on, and wondered if that was the cause of the huge behavior change.

"You know, I'd ask if you wanted to eat anything while you're here," Gold began as he watched Platinum send out her Rapidash just outside of his house. "But a certain freeloader has cleaned out the fridge again, so there's nothing prepared left…"

Platinum simply smiled. "That is okay, senior. I appreciate your care." She gave her senior a polite bow. "Thank you so much for your help, senior."

"No problem. And hey, when you get back to Sinnoh, you should go talk to those daycare folks. They have a lot more experience than I do, so they might know something new."

"I will. Thank you." After another polite bow, she carefully hopped onto her Rapidash and headed towards Cherrygrove City. There, she would take the bus to Olivine City, where she would take the ferry to Sinnoh.

And after showing off the Eevee egg to Diamond and Pearl, she'd head to Solaceon Town to seek some more advice from the old daycare couple.

…

Several days later, June 23, Solaceon Town, Sinnoh, 8 am…

…

Platinum woke up from her sleep and stretched her limbs as she sat up. She rubbed her eyes a bit before putting her glasses on and looked at her Eevee egg that was in the canister on the table next to the bed.

"Good morning," she said to the egg after taking it out of the canister. She gently held the egg close to her heart. "Did you get a nice sleep? Yes? Good."

"I thought you were talking to me for a sec," came a female voice from the bathroom of the hotel suite.

"Oh? You were awake already?" Platinum asked.

Y stepped out of the bathroom while fully dressed in her flight suit. A few days ago, Platinum heard from White that Y had been feeling quite down lately, and asked the Kalos Dex Holder to come to Sinnoh for a visit. Y had agreed and had arrived a couple of days ago. She looked quite depressed, so Platinum had decided to take her on a peaceful journey to Solaceon Town in hopes of cheering her up.

"Yeah. I felt like flying around for a bit, so I woke up early so I can get dressed," Y answered.

"How are you feeling today?"

"Feeling okay," Y answered, not sounding too truthful.

"I am sure a peaceful sightseeing flight would be very helpful," Platinum suggested. "Mt. Coronet is nearby, and the route to the north of here has many steep hills and cliffs. You should fly around there."

"Okay. Will do," Y said.

"I will be at the daycare center in the northern end of the town. So if you need me for whatever reason, do not hesitate to come to me."

"Thank you."

Y soon left the hotel suite and Platinum let out a short sigh. She knew that Y was feeling down because one of her Pokémon had abandoned her recently and she was forced to release it. The only real way to cheer her up was to get a wild Pokémon to like her enough to voluntarily join her team. But Platinum had no idea how to do that, since she only had half of a team for years now. Although, Y now had half of a team herself, so perhaps the two girls could fill up their teams together.

Platinum gave the Eevee egg a soft kiss before putting it back in the incubator canister. Once she was sure that it was secure, she headed towards the bathroom to get ready for the day.

An hour later, Platinum arrived at the daycare center. She momentarily looked off to the north and spotted Y flying around in the distance. The Kalos Dex Holder wasn't flying around too fast, indicating that she was taking time for some sightseeing as recommended. Platinum watched her junior for a few more seconds before heading inside the daycare center.

Another couple of hours later, Platinum had finished getting lessons and advices from the old daycare couple and set out to find Y. She no longer spotted her flying around in the distance, so she figured that Y had landed there for a break. Platinum hopped onto her Rapidash and with the egg canister held securely in her arms, she steadily headed up north.

She found Y in the northern half of Route 210, sitting on top of a steep cliff. Y saw the heiress approaching and pushed herself off of the cliff, entering freefall for a bit before using her flight suit to glide forward. Platinum stopped her Rapidash and watched as Y flew straight towards her, careened off to the side and did a spiral before landing perfectly on her feet.

"That was… dangerous," Platinum said with a slight frown as Y fixed her hair while walking towards her.

"I do this all the time, so… it's all in control," Y said with a smile. She took out a Pokéball containing her Greninja and looked inside. "And in case things go wrong, I have Kerokero here to save me." She put the Pokéball back in her pocket and looked at her senior. "So… is everything done?"

"Yes. And I have a new destination. The daycare couple told me that there is an island in the region of Alola that is famous for its usefulness in hatching eggs." Platinum looked at the Eevee egg in the canister. "I intend to go there next. I wish the very best for this Eevee, even before it hatches."

"So you're literally giving that egg the best care money can get, huh?" Y asked. "Wow. No other Eevee in the _world_ would've had better care."

"I want you to come with me," Platinum said. "I still do not think that you are back to your normal self. Surely a trip to the vacation region of Alola would help?"

Y thought for a second before she nodded. "Okay. I'll go with you. Thank you for the offer. But we should ask White to come too. She'll need a nice vacation too. I don't think it's fair if I'm the only one that gets to follow you around in the vacation region."

"Good idea," Platinum said. "I suppose it would be more fun to be in a group."

"Can you call her?"

Platinum took out her Pokégear and called White. The Unova Dex Holder answered almost immediately.

"Hello?" came White's voice from the Pokégear, sounding a bit out of breath.

"Hello White," Platinum said calmly.

"Oh, hi, Lady Platinum," White said.

"Are you busy?" Platinum asked. "You sound out of breath."

"Oh, no. I was just taking a break, and your call just really surprised me. So… what's up?"

"I am going to the region of Alola with Y," Platinum said. "And we wanted you to come with us. Do you think you can spare the time for a vacation trip to Alola?"

"Alola huh?" White muttered. "… That sounds really nice. … Who else is going?"

"Just us three," Platinum said. "And maybe Moon if she is still in the region."

"Hmm… okay, sure," White said after a moment of thought. "That sounds really nice. Thank you for inviting me. So, where are we going to meet?"

"Y and I are above Solaceon Town in Sinnoh. We will be heading to Canalave City to take the ferry, and we will make a stop in Castelia City. So we will meet up there. It will likely be a week from now. I will call you when we depart from Canalave City."

"Okay. If you let me know ahead of time, I can certainly make arrangements so I can leave on a vacation," White said. "I could really use some R&R."

"Wonderful. I will keep you upda-"

"Miss Platinum! Look out!" Y suddenly yelled.

Platinum looked up in alarm just as Y dived towards her, quickly pushing the heiress backwards. Platinum's Rapidash quickly ran forward a bit in surprise as well, causing its trainer to fall off completely.

While falling, Platinum quickly pulled the egg canister close to her heart, and twisted her body so that she'd hit the ground instead of the canister. But before she hit the ground, there was a loud thud as something heavy hit the ground just a few feet away from her.

Platinum hit the ground and quickly tightened her grip on the Eevee egg canister, just as Y landed on top of her. Y had spread her limbs beforehand, so that her knees would hit the ground instead of her senior, and that her arms would stop her fall so that she didn't land on the egg canister.

Y quickly looked behind her to see what exactly had hit the ground. All she had seen was a blob of grayish blue plummeting towards the ground. Platinum glanced past her junior's flight suit wings and saw a very small figure in the dust cloud formed by the impact.

The dust soon settled and Platinum could see a wild Bagon pull its head out of the ground. The Bagon looked over at the two Dex Holders and let out what sounded like a very frustrated roar.

And without warning, the Bagon opened its mouth wide and shot at the two Dex Holders with Flamethrower…

* * *

 **Just like the last part, the events within this part of the prologue doesn't fit anywhere on the main story, but Platinum needs the three new Pokémon in her team. But given the nature of these events and the fact that the chapter would be VERY long, half of the contents intended to be in this chapter has been merged with the next part of the prologue. Since Y is following Platinum around, the merging of the events wouldn't negatively impact anything.**


	3. Prologue - Kalos

**The final part of the prologue is here! Hope you like it! … It's long. This chapter effectively doubles the current word count of Legacy.**

* * *

Prologue – Kalos:

June 16, Vaniville Town, Kalos, 12 pm…

"Stop!" Y yelled with her hand raised high, signaling her Pokémon to stop the training.

Her Pokémon stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her.

"Guys, what's happening?" Y asked. "Our training sessions are becoming more and more… jumbled up. The teamwork is getting sloppy. Right now, this is _very_ far from being a well-oiled machine. Any thoughts, X?"

X crossed his arms as he observed each of Y's Pokémon. "Everyone's doing their best, except…"

"Solsol," Y finished for him, as she had the same feeling as well. "Solsol hasn't been cooperating with me lately. What's wrong?"

The Absol simply looked off into the distance. Y stared at it for a bit before she moved around so that she was right in front of its face. The Absol looked off to the side.

"So we're doing this again, are we?" Y asked with a sigh. "… Why? You've been like this for a while now. I thought I was getting you the wrong food so I looked that up. I then thought that this was a natural habit for Absols, so I looked that up too. I then wondered if I was making you uncomfortable and tried my absolute best to make sure that you'd be happy. And still nothing. I looked up your data on the Pokédex, but it's not like there were any disasters that were happening in the vicinity to distract you."

She crouched in front of her Absol again and tried to give it a gentle pet. But the Absol pulled back and shook away her attempts to pet it.

"Come on, Solsol," Y said. "At least tell me what's bothering you so much."

The Absol didn't even look at her as it continued to stare off into the distance.

"According to the Pokédex here," X began, looking at Absol's data. "Absol is a Pokémon that only approaches people when a disaster is about to happen. … I wonder if it only allowed itself to be caught by you because of what was happening at the time."

"I thought that too, but if that was true, then Solsol would've tried to leave the moment the situation was resolved," Y argued. A thought suddenly occurred and she looked stunned. "… Unless… it stuck around for a bit longer in case the disaster was prolonged?"

The Absol suddenly looked at her as if she had said something right for once. Y blinked a few times as she recalled the Absol's behavior changes, and when the first change occurred.

"… So… all this time…" she began in disbelief. "… You only listened to me because you were concerned about another possible disaster? … And now that things are peaceful and there is no chance of a disaster, you want to… leave me? Is that it?"

The Absol looked into her eyes for a second before looking away into the distance again.

"… I'm sorry, Y," X said solemnly.

"… That's it, huh?" Y muttered, her voice shaking. "… All the time we spent together since then… our… _bond_ … all of that is meaningless to you?" She took a series of deep breaths to calm down a bit and then took out the Absol's Pokéball. "… Solsol… or rather, _Absol_ , please just look at me," she began, trying to prevent her voice from shaking any more.

"Y, what are you doing?" X asked, noticing something strange in Y's expression.

The Absol finally turned to look at Y, or rather, the Pokéball that it was bound to.

"If… if all the time we spent together, our bond, and my affection towards you have all been meaningless to you," Y said, her voice starting to quiver again. "… And if you truly want to abandon me and go back to where you were before… then push the button and hold it until you're free. If that's not true and you care about me in the slight-"

The Absol pushed the central button on the Pokéball with its paw before Y even finished her next sentence. The Pokéball emitted a light blue beam at the Absol as the releasing process finished. And the moment the process ended, it turned away and began to run without even casting a second glance at its former trainer.

X quickly took out one of his own Pokéballs, wanting to chase after the Absol and force it to return. But Y suddenly lowered her head and dropped the Pokéball in her hand, causing him to stop in worry.

Y looked at the dropped Pokéball, which lay opened on the ground. She stared at it in silence for a long while before she reached into her pocket and fished out a Mega Stone; the Absol's Mega Stone. She dropped it next to the empty Pokéball and lowered her head once more.

"Y… I'm so sorry," X said from the side. But Y didn't respond and simply turned away. X looked at the dropped Mega Stone on the ground and noticed that there was a little wet mark on the ground. … Tear drop? X quickly looked up again and saw Y beginning to run towards her house. And before X could even start running after her, she had entered her house and locked the door behind her.

…

Next day, June 17, 11 am…

…

X looked from his windows for signs of Y. She had refused to answer his calls the previous day, and it seemed that she was going to skip out on her daily Sky Trainer training sessions. He looked down and saw Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna approaching his house.

"No good," Tierno said once X opened the windows. "She won't talk to us."

"YP is being like… you," Shauna said. "And given how we were never able to drag you out, I don't think any of us would be able to drag her out of her room."

"Talk about irony," Tierno commented. "That Absol abandoning her must've really hurt her."

"Surely there must be someone who can get Y to come out?" Trevor said. "X, do you have any ideas? You're acquainted with the Pokédex Holders of other regions. Do you think any of them can convince Y to come out?"

X thought for a while as he recalled each Dex Holder and thought how close they were to Y. Soon, a certain Dex Holder came to mind, and he slowly nodded. "Yeah. I think I know who to call. And if I'm right, Y can't possibly ignore her _orders_." He frowned as he searched through his list of contacts. "But I don't know her number…"

"That's… not good. Do you know anyone who knows that Dex Holder?"

X soon found a _business card_ that he had been given at one point. … Customary for that Dex Holder, apparently.

"That I do. And I think this number will work," X answer as he called the number provided on the business card.

Soon an automated response answered his call. "Thank you for calling BW Agency! If you know your party's extension, you may dial it at any time…"

X dialed the proper extension number and waited as the call was being connected. Sure, this felt a bit dumb, being forced to call a Dex Holder's _business number_ in another region in order to get the number of another Dex Holder in yet another region who could then call the Dex Holder that was living literally next door to come outside and talk, but… if it meant that Y would return to being her bright and cheerful self again…

…

Several days later, June 23, Route 210, Sinnoh, 12 pm…

…

"Miss Platinum! Look out!" Y yelled as she quickly lunged forward, pushing her senior out of harm's way. She looked backwards and saw a wild Bagon pulling its head out of the ground once the dust settled.

The Bagon let out a seemingly frustrated roar and suddenly used Flamethrower at the two Dex Holders.

"Incoming!" Y yelled as she saw the Fire type attack. She rose a bit to jump out of the way, but then realized that Platinum was currently under her carrying her precious Eevee egg. If Y jumped out of the way, the heiress would be hit by the attack, and that was unacceptable. If the egg was damaged… that was a lot worse, as Platinum would _never_ forgive her. So instead, Y spread out her flight suit wings and tried to shield her senior from the attack as much as possible.

Y braced herself, but the attack never came. She looked behind her and realized that Platinum's Rapidash had returned, and soaked up the Flamethrower with its Flash Fire ability.

Platinum hastily checked the status of her precious Eevee egg, afraid that the impact may have damaged it. "The egg is safe," she said with a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Y, and Rapidash."

"Lady Platinum?!" came White's frantic voice from the Pokégear. "What's happening? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am okay," Platinum responded calmly. "A wild Bagon has attacked. Nothing more. As I was saying, I will keep you updated." She soon hung up and looked up at Y. "Prepare for battle."

"Okay," Y said as she signaled her Fletchinder to come closer. "But… why did this Bagon attack?" she asked as she reached for her Pokédex.

"Bagon has a perpetual wish for flight," Platinum said as she rose to her feet. "It continuously jumps off of high cliffs in its attempts to fly and crashes head-first into the ground, which made its head rock hard. It is why it has the Rock Head ability. And this is my conjecture, but I surmise that this Bagon saw you flying and got upset. Here in Sinnoh, there are no Sky Trainers, so even the wild Pokémon are not accustomed to seeing people flying around. That may be the reason why it is attacking right now."

Y checked her Pokédex and saw the exact same information displayed on the screen. She momentarily tilted her head, wondering how exactly her senior knew that information without even looking at her own Pokédex before she remembered who exactly the heiress was.

Y frowned a bit and took a few steps to the side, separating herself from her senior to test the conjecture. The Bagon was only looking at her, and it was clear that it wasn't even paying attention to Platinum.

"Huh. It sure seems to be angry at me," Y said. "… Okay then. Here goes. Fletchy, Flame Charge!"

The Fletchinder cloaked itself in flames and prepared to charge. But the wild Bagon suddenly shot a huge stream of water from its mouth, forcing the Fletchinder to abort its attack and fly up to dodge. The Bagon stomped around in frustration at the flight and shot another stream of water at the bird Pokémon.

"Hydro Pump?" Y muttered in surprise.

"It is uncommon, but not impossible," Platinum said. "However, Bagon is not proficient at ranged attacks. That Hydro Pump currently lacks raw power. You should take advantage of it."

"I got this," Y said with a nod. "Double Team!"

The Fletchinder quickly flew around the Bagon, making illusory copies of itself to confuse the little Dragon Pokémon. The Bagon spun around for a bit, trying to find the real Fletchinder, before it began blasting every copy with Flamethrower. Y observed the Bagon's firing rate and timed her attack accordingly.

"Now! Aerial Ace!"

The Fletchinder suddenly appeared in front of the Bagon and rammed into it at incredibly high speed just as the little Dragon Pokémon was about to inhale for another Flamethrower. The impact sent the Bagon rolling backwards, until it came to a sudden abrupt halt in the form of the cliff wall.

"Ooh… that must've hurt," Y said with a wince. She jogged towards the Bagon, afraid that she may have dealt too much damage.

The Bagon sat up and shook away the effects of the Aerial Ace. It looked more disheartened than injured.

"It does not appear to be hurt," Platinum said as she walked towards the Bagon as well. "But it probably will not attack any further."

"That's good," Y said. She gave her Fletchinder a gentle pat on the head and was about to turn away when she noticed the expression on the Bagon's face. The Bagon let out a whimper as it looked down at the ground. "Aww… you really want to fly, don't you?" she asked as she crouched in front of it. "Maybe I can help you out."

The Bagon perked up and looked at her excitedly. Y smiled as she extended a hand towards the Bagon. The little Dragon Pokémon hopped up to its feet and ran towards her.

"All right then," Y said as she gave the Bagon a gentle pet. "Fletchy, let's give this little guy a ride, huh?"

The Fletchinder nodded and grabbed onto the little Bagon with its talons. Once the Bagon was securely in its grip, the Fletchinder began to fly upwards, taking it slowly at first. The Bagon let out a happy roar and it began to flap its arms to mimic the Fletchinder's wings.

"Aww, isn't that cute?" Y said as she watched her Fletchinder flying in circles for the Bagon, occasionally soaring into the sky and dipping low towards the ground for different experiences.

"Yes. And it is very admirable of you for letting the Bagon have its wish," Platinum said.

"Thank you. The little guy just looked so sad, you know?"

"I suppose being defeated by a Flying type Pokémon was quite upsetting," Platinum said. "But now, at least it will be-" She suddenly felt something soft landing on her head and quickly looked up in surprise. She felt her hat being pulled off and caught a glimpse of something blue and white that was now flying away. "Ah! My hat!"

Y quickly spun around in surprise and spotted the blue and white Pokémon flying away, with Platinum's undoubtedly super expensive hat. "Ah! Your million PKD hat! I'll get it back for you!"

Her Fletchinder flew down and assisted her in taking off before beginning to chase the hat thief, with the Bagon still holding on for the ride.

Platinum tilted her head as she watched her junior fly off. "… Million? … How much was that hat?"

Y squinted to get a slightly better view of the hat thief. A bird like Pokémon with a light blue body and soft looking white wings?

' _Ah, a Swablu,_ ' Y thought as she contemplated on her options. ' _Fletchy can't use any Fire type attacks without risking damage to Miss Platinum's expensive hat._ ' She looked at her Fletchinder to ask if it could outrun the Swablu when she noticed that the Bagon was about to attack. "No! Don't use Flamethrower!" she hastily yelled. "We can't damage the hat!"

The Bagon aborted its attack and looked over at Y, as if it was asking what it could do.

"… Fletchy is currently a bit over encumbered," Y muttered as she thought of a plan. "So it can't easily outrun the Swablu. I can't risk any Fire type or explosive attacks, or the hat gets damaged. … Maybe water? … Surely the hat won't be damaged by water…" She looked over at Bagon that was still waiting for her to say something. "Can you use Hydro Pump?"

The Bagon nodded and quickly shot a stream of water at the Swablu. The Swablu detected the attack far too late, and the Hydro Pump landed a direct hit. The attack wasn't that strong, but it was enough to force the Swablu to fall and let go of the hat.

"Grab it!" Y yelled as she swooped down. The Fletchinder swooped down as well and the Bagon managed to grab the Swablu while Y managed to grab her senior's hat before quickly spreading her arms again for her flight suit to work.

The Swablu didn't resist as Y and Fletchinder returned to where Platinum was waiting. Y soon landed in front of her senior and handed her the hat.

"I'm sorry, Miss Platinum, but… it's a bit wet," Y said.

Platinum carefully set the egg canister on the ground for a bit so that she could take her hat and put it on. "It is okay. The hat will dry quickly. Thank you, Y."

"The Bagon did all the work," Y said as she looked at the Bagon that was now on the ground again, still holding onto Swablu. "Maybe it was returning the favor for letting it experience flight."

"Now, as for that Swablu," Platinum said as she crouched in front of the small Pokémon. She frowned as she saw the expression on the Swablu. "… It appears… sad. It looks as if it is longing for something…"

"Maybe it thought that your hat was like one of its kind?" Y suggested. "Usually, Swablu and Altaria fly with others of their kind. But this one is by itself. Maybe it got lost and thought your hat was one of its kind."

"Perhaps," Platinum said. She looked at the Swablu carefully, and noticed the dirt on its wings. "Swablu loves to be clean. But this one is quite dirty. It does support the theory that this one is lost and on its own."

"So… what will you do?" Y asked. "We shouldn't just leave it alone again in the wild."

Platinum gently lifted the Swablu in her arms. "Would you like to come with me? I will assure you that you will never be alone again."

The Swablu looked surprised at the offer, and hesitated. Platinum gently brushed off the dirt on its wings with her hands and smiled brightly. The Swablu soon lowered its guard and chirped happily.

"So, will you come with me?" Platinum asked. The Swablu nodded. "Splendid." She took out an empty Pokéball from her bag and held it in front of the small Pokémon. The Swablu tapped the button in the center and in a flash of light, entered the Pokéball. The Pokéball shook a bit as the capture process was underway. The Swablu offered no resistance whatsoever, and the Pokéball soon stopped shaking.

"Capture completed!" Y exclaimed. "Congratulations, Miss Platinum."

"Thank you." Platinum sent out her newly captured Swablu, which immediately flew into its trainer's embrace. "Nice to meet you. I am sure we will work well together."

"Knowing you, I'm sure the Swablu will be really happy being with you," Y said with a smile.

The Swablu flew out of its trainer's embrace and gently perched on her head. Platinum remembered that Swablu prefers to perch on their trainers' heads, so she decided to let it be. Instead, she picked up her Eevee egg canister once more.

"Now then, shall we get going?"

"Sure. Where to?" Y asked as she watched her senior hop onto her Rapidash. So now the heiress was carrying an Eevee egg, while sitting on a Rapidash, while a Swablu was perched on her head. It was admittedly an amusing sight.

"From here, we will head west," Platinum said. "We will rest at Celestic Town for a little while then we will take the path through Mt. Coronet to reach Eterna City. We will rest there for the day, and tomorrow, we will take the Cycling Road to the south until we reach Oreburgh City. And from there, we will take transportation to reach Canalave City."

"All right then. Lead the way." Y looked down at the Bagon that was still sticking around for some reason. She smiled and gave it another gentle pat on the head. "Thanks for helping me today, Bagon. But I have to get going now. Good bye."

The Bagon let out what sounded like a whimper again. Before Y turned away, it jumped forward and grabbed onto her leg.

"It appears to have taken a liking to you," Platinum said from the side. A thought suddenly occurred and she smiled brightly. "Y, this is a perfect opportunity. Let it join your team."

"Let it join…" Y suddenly frowned as she remembered her Absol. It had _allowed_ itself to be captured just to stop a crisis and had promptly abandoned her afterwards. What if this Bagon only wanted to be on her team because of flight? Would it abandon her the moment it evolved into Salamence? "… I don't know," she said at last.

"I understand your concerns," Platinum said. "But you cannot let the experience from one Absol prevent you from trusting your Pokémon ever again."

Y looked down at the Bagon that was still holding onto her leg. "… You really want to come with me?" The Bagon nodded enthusiastically. Y finally managed to smile as she crouched in front of the Bagon. "Thank you." She took out a Pokéball from her bag and held it in front of the little Dragon Pokémon. The Bagon tapped the button and soon allowed itself to be captured. Once the Pokéball stopped shaking, Y looked at the little Bagon inside. "… You're right, Miss Platinum. I can't let that one instance with Absol change me too much. Thank you." She sent out her newly captured Bagon so that she could look into its eyes clearly. "Nice to meet you, Bagon. I really hope we'll get along well. And from this point on, I'm going to call you Bobo."

…

Next day, June 24, Route 206, 11 am…

…

"It really feels weird," Y said as she held onto the railing of Sinnoh's Cycling Road. "I mean… really."

Platinum held the brakes on her bicycle so that she could stop next to Y. The Kalos Dex Holder didn't have a bicycle, but instead had the "rollerblades modification" installed into her boots. Apparently in the region of Kalos, a lot more people preferred using rollerblades than bicycles. And Y admitted that she had given in and purchased the modification on impulse. And now, while everyone else on the Cycling Road were on bicycles, Y was the only one using rollerblades. And since she was not proficient at it, she was also wearing her flight suit helmet and makeshift elbow and knee pads.

"This just… feels and looks very silly," Y said as she once again made her way down the Cycling Road.

"While it is unusual to see someone with rollerblades, it is not strange," Platinum said with a smile.

For a while, the two Dex Holders smoothly traversed the Cycling Road, taking breaks every now and then. But halfway down the Cycling Road, an accident happened.

Platinum and Y entered the steepest slope of the road when the whole Cycling Road began to shake, as if there was an earthquake happening. While Platinum managed to use the brakes to stop before she lost control, Y could not as she wasn't proficient enough with her rollerblades. And even as she cried out for help, Y lost control of her speed and direction, and ended up colliding into the railing before falling off of the Cycling Road entirely.

Y quickly reached into her bag while falling and sent out her Greninja, which immediately wrapped its trainer in a thick layer of bubbles. Y still clenched her eyes and braced herself as she hit something really hard (based on the impact) and rolled down until she came to a halt.

Y opened her eyes once she had stopped falling/tumbling as the bubbles around her dissipated. She briefly checked her body and all of her limbs in case she was hurt somewhere and her nerves haven't caught up yet.

"Not a single scratch," she muttered after a sigh of relief. She smiled brightly at her Greninja that had dropped in front of her to check up on her. "Thank you so much, Kerokero. You're getting better and better at this. I can always count on you, right?" The Greninja blushed a bit at the compliment and rubbed the back of its neck in an embarrassed manner.

"Y! Are you okay?!" came Platinum's worried voice from above.

Y looked up and saw her senior looking down from the Cycling Road and waved at her. "I'm over here! And I'm perfectly okay!"

"Be careful!" Platinum shouted. "You are very close to Wayward Cave. Wild Garchomp and Gabite live in the area!"

"… That explains the sudden earthquake," Y muttered as she rose to her feet after switching her boots to normal. "I'll be careful!"

"Good. Now continue following the Cycling Road! I will see you at the exit!"

Y took off her helmet and makeshift elbow and knee pads and put them in her bag. She sent out her Fletchinder, and ordered it to follow her from high above so that Platinum would know exactly where she was at all times. Afterwards, she sent out her Sylveon and Bagon before following the Cycling Road once more.

As she walked, she felt the ground trembling a few more times, and each one was stronger than the last, as if the source was getting closer and closer.

"Guys, be ready for a fight," Y told her Pokémon as she prepared for battle as well. "If we have to deal with wild Garchomp and Gabite, we have to ready for them ahead of time. Kerokero, look out for ambushes, and Veevee, get ready for a quick-fire Moonblast. And Bobo, if any enemy gets close, smash them with Headbutt, okay?"

Her Pokémon all acknowledged her orders and prepared themselves accordingly. But for a while, nothing happened apart from occasional tremors. Y kept her guard up, just in case. And before she could reach the end of the Cycling Road, a wild Pokémon attacked her.

She first felt the ground directly beneath her shaking violently, as if something was charging forward from under the surface. Y quickly jumped and did a back flip just as something burst out from where she had been standing a split second ago. She landed on her feet and lowered to a crouch to present less of a target as the dust settled. She expected to see a much larger Garchomp or a Gabite, but instead, she saw a little Gible. And before she could give any commands to her Pokémon, her Bagon attacked the Gible as per previously instructed.

The Bagon rammed its head into the Gible, with enough force to almost send it back underground. But the Headbutt seemed to have harmed the Bagon as well. Y saw the scratch mark on her Bagon's head and realized why that happened.

"This Gible must have Rough Skin ability," she muttered. "Bobo, try to avoid making physical contact," she said. The Bagon nodded and prepared for ranged attacks.

The Gible shook away the effects of the Headbutt and burrowed underground to charge forward again. The Bagon scanned the ground to see where the Gible may burst up, but couldn't detect the burrow charge well enough to avoid it. The Gible burst up from the ground behind the Bagon, sending it flying into the air.

"Bobo! Hydro Pump!" Y ordered once her Bagon was in a better position.

The Bagon twisted its body to face down. The moment it was directly above the Gible, it used a full power Hydro Pump. Even though its ranged attacks weren't all that powerful, the Hydro Pump gained the additional benefit of gravity since it was aimed directly below. The Gible saw the attack and burrowed underground to avoid it, but the Hydro Pump hit the hole that it just made, which forced all the water into the little hole.

The ground burst open again as the Gible was shot upwards thanks to the water from the Hydro Pump acting as a geyser. The Bagon dropped towards the Gible at top speed and managed to ram its head directly into the Gible's head with a gravity-boosted Headbutt.

Both the Bagon and Gible fell towards the ground. Y rushed forward to catch her Bagon, momentarily forgetting about how much it weighed. The Bagon hit her chest as she caught it and the impact immediately knocked her down to the ground.

"Ah! … Ugh… you're heavy…" she groaned as her Bagon quickly crawled off of her. "But great job, Bobo. You managed yourself really well in the air despite not being able to fly yet. Just imagine how good you'll be once you fully evolve!"

The Bagon let out a short roar of triumph as it happily hopped about. Just then, the wild Gible got back up as well. With an angry growl, the Gible began to thrash about, stomping on the ground repeatedly as hard as it could muster.

"Earthquake!" Y exclaimed as the ground began to shake violently. But fortunately, the Gible didn't seem to know how to fully use Earthquake yet, as the ground stopped shaking pretty quickly. "Veevee, restrain it!"

Y's Sylveon quickly extended its ribbons and wrapped around the wild Gible, completely immobilizing it. The Gible tried to thrash around, but couldn't move an inch.

"So you're the one that's been causing these tremors," Y said with a stern look. "That's dangerous, you know. That whole Cycling Road could collapse, and if it does, it'd destroy Wayward Cave, and hurt a _lot_ of people and Pokémon!"

The Gible steadily calmed down and dropped its hostility. Y's Sylveon released it, but remained on guard just in case.

Y suddenly realized that she recognized the expression on the Gible. She had seen it on her Bagon after it had lost to her Fletchinder. So this Gible wanted something, but couldn't get it. … Y lightened her expression as she recalled what Platinum had said to her the previous day. She crouched in front of the Gible and tried to appear as friendly as possible.

"… You want to get stronger, don't you?" she asked nicely. "That's why you've been causing a bit of a ruckus here. You wanted to learn how to use Earthquake, and wanted to become stronger by defeating opponents. That's why you attacked us. … But you don't have to do that alone, you know."

The Gible looked up at her, wondering what she was talking about. Y simply smiled.

"Why don't you come with me? Together, we can become stronger much faster."

The Gible soon nodded and accepted her offer. Y took out an empty Pokéball and captured the Gible with it. She then sent out the newly captured Gible.

"From now on, I'm going to call you Toto. And together, we'll be a great team."

The Gible looked at all of Y's other Pokémon before meeting the gaze of her Bagon. The Gible glared at the Bagon, as it hadn't gotten over its defeat quite yet. The Bagon sensed the hostility and glared back. Y's Sylveon sensed the hostility and used its ribbons to split the two apart. The two Dragons glared at each other once more before turning away simultaneously. Y let out a short sigh.

"A rivalry, huh? … I suppose that could be useful in a team…"

…

A week later, July 1, Isle Avue, Alola, 1 pm…

…

Y stretched her limbs while lying down on the beach. The warmth felt so good, and she had never felt so relaxed before, ever. She looked over to her right, where her Pokémon were playing with other Pokémon, all enjoying the nice weather. She looked over to her left, where she saw Platinum lightly dozing while on the beach chair, with her Eevee egg canister securely held in her arms. White was lying on the beach next to her, enjoying the calmness as well. And next to her, Moon remained seated on the sand, looking rather… bored. Unlike the other three, the Alola Dex Holder wasn't in her swimsuit, as she apparently had no intention of going in the water.

The heiress suddenly let out a short yawn and sat up a bit as she checked the condition of her Eevee egg.

"Miss Platinum," Y started, now that her senior was awake. "If you aimed to get a nice sexy tan while in the beaches of Alola, sitting under a _giant_ parasol isn't the way to do it."

White chuckled as she looked up at the parasol. "Yeah. It looks so thick too. I wouldn't be surprised if it blocks out even gamma radiation."

Platinum smiled and looked at her two juniors. "You do not have to sit next to me if you desire a suntan." She gently held the egg incubator canister and checked its temperature. "The warmth of this island is supposedly very beneficial for egg hatching. That is the only reason I am here. But if you two wish to do something in the meantime…"

"We wouldn't want to leave you all by yourself, Lady Platinum," White said. "Besides, the sunlight here seems a bit too strong. I wouldn't want to get burned."

"I think I want a sand massage. Or whatever it's called," Y said. "White, can you help me?"

"Okay, sure."

Y moved towards the edge of the shade cast by the parasol and lied down on the hot sand but in a way that the shadow of the parasol just covered her head. White crawled over and began burying Y's body with sand.

"Ooh… hot, hot, hot…" Y said as she squirmed. "Damn the sand is hot. But it feels so good."

"And the sunlight will keep your sand tomb very hot," White said as she finished covering her junior with sand. "So if it gets too hot, either force your way out or call for help."

Platinum smiled as she took out her Empoleon's Pokéball. "Or Empoleon can encase your little sand tomb in ice with Blizzard."

"Um… no thanks."

The egg inside the incubator suddenly shook a few times. Platinum immediately noticed and looked at it.

"Oh, it shook again," she said excitedly. The other three Dex Holder all looked at the Eevee egg. "It must be getting really close to hatching. This is the fourth time the egg shook today!"

"So close," White said. "I really want to see it hatch. The little Eevee is going to be so cute!"

"It's an egg from Kanto, that'd hatch in Alola, but is going to stay in Sinnoh," Moon said. "That's… quite interesting. It already traveled far more than I have."

Platinum held the incubator even closer to her chest. "Oh, I cannot wait…"

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," came a stranger's voice from the side all of a sudden. "It's just four little girls taking up the best spot in this beach."

The four Dex Holders quickly looked where the voice came from and saw two… _punks_ standing with their arms crossed. Moon recognized the outfit and let out a sigh.

"Oh… Team Skull…"

"Don't you know the rules?" the leading grunt asked as he approached the Dex Holders. "You can't just set up _camp_ in this beach without paying rent!"

"Rent?" Platinum said with a frown. "Is that… common?"

"That's ridiculous!" White said. "Who pays rent for using the beach? Maybe for parking, but this is-"

"Of course you outsiders wouldn't know!" the other grunt said menacingly. "But around here, the rules are simple. You either pay the rent, _or else_."

"Don't listen to them," Moon said with a sigh. "These guys are just trying to extort money."

"You don't seem to understand, _little girl_ ," the leading grunt said. "You will pay for this spot, one way or another."

Platinum got up to her feet to face the Team Skull grunts. Seeing her rise, her Empoleon and Lopunny quickly came closer, just in case. One by one, the Dex Holders' Pokémon gathered towards their trainers.

"I request that you leave us," the heiress said sternly. "Do not harass us and please leave."

"And I keep saying," the grunt said angrily. "That you don't seem to understand!"

The grunt suddenly kicked the giant parasol, knocking it over and effectively creating a barrier between the Dex Holders and their Pokémon. And with the parasol knocked over, the strong sunlight temporarily blinded the Dex Holders, leaving them defenseless for a brief moment. During that moment, the other grunt quickly shoved Platinum off of her feet and snatched her Eevee egg canister and began to run.

Platinum hit the ground and forced her eyes to open. She quickly realized that the two Team Skull grunts have stolen her Eevee egg.

"No! Stop!" she yelled out in horror, as she chased after them as fast as she could run.

Y quickly forced herself out of the little sand tomb. "Toto! Go after them!" she yelled out. "Fletchy! You too!"

Y's Fletchinder quickly flew over the knocked over parasol and chased after the fleeing grunts. The Gible burrowed underground and charged forward towards them as well.

"Be careful!" White yelled out as she ran after the grunts as well. "We can't risk damaging the-"

Before she even finished, there was a loud "twing" like noise from behind, as if a string with really high tension was released. White spun around and spotted Moon with her bow out, having shot at the two Team Skull grunts with her flat-headed arrows.

The two grunts had already reached paved ground when the arrow reached them. The grunt holding the egg canister stumbled after getting hit by the arrow on the back of his head. And just as Platinum reached the pavement as well, the grunt tripped and fell, dropping the egg canister at the same time.

Platinum shrieked in horror as the egg canister hit the paved ground and shattered, sending the egg inside crashing into the pavement at full speed with a loud crack. The egg cracked badly on impact, with pieces of the shell flying off from the impact. Platinum stumbled towards the partly smashed egg and dropped to her knees, with her hands clamped over her mouth.

"N – No…" she muttered, beginning to tremble. She shakily touched the cracked egg and gasped as she felt the shell cracking in her gentle grip. "No, no, no…"

White and Y soon arrived next to her and stood horrified as well. Moon remained frozen in place still on the beach as she realized the repercussions of her bow shot. She shakily approached her seniors and stared at the smashed egg in complete shock.

"Lady Platinum…" White began, trying and failing to come up with something to say to her senior to comfort her.

Platinum lowered her head and visibly trembled as she fought the urge to cry. But she quickly lost the fight and began to sob silently.

Y glared at the Team Skull grunt who had tried to steal the egg. The two grunts were fleeing the scene now. Y wanted to chase them and beat their heads in, but couldn't leave her senior like this.

She crouched next to her senior, thinking of what she could say to help. She had been with the heiress for the past two weeks now, and knew just how much Platinum had been taking care of that egg. And as time passed, the heiress had gotten more and more attached to her Eevee egg. To see the egg smashed now… Y felt her own tears welling in her eyes and closed them. … She didn't want to see the destroyed egg either.

White suddenly gasped as she saw the destroyed egg move a bit. She opened her eyes wide and carefully observed the egg, in case she saw wrong. But even as she watched, the egg shook a bit again.

"Lady Platinum!" she quickly shouted. "Look!"

Platinum opened her eyes and looked at the destroyed egg. Even through her tears, she could see the cracked egg shaking. She touched the egg with her hands in case she was seeing things, and upon feeling the egg shaking in her hands, she quickly pulled back and left it alone.

"Is it hatching?" Y asked in disbelief. "How? I was so worried that it was destroyed…"

"It must've been _that_ close to hatching," White suggested. "It must've been so close that the fall didn't damage the Eevee inside."

The egg shook again and a piece of its shell fell off, revealing the little paw that had kicked that piece off. The paw quickly retracted, however, as if the Eevee wasn't fully ready to enter the new world quite yet.

The four Dex Holders held their breaths as the little Eevee began to slowly kick off more pieces of the egg shell. Eventually, a big chunk of the shell fell off and the little Eevee poked its head through to face the outside world for the first time. And the very first thing it saw was Platinum's teary face. The little Eevee jumped back in surprise at the sudden close proximity, which made Platinum quickly pull back as well.

"Eevee…" she said, her voice shaking. "Are… are you okay?"

The Eevee perked up at the sound of her voice, as she sounded awfully… familiar. Platinum slowly reached towards the Eevee with her hand. The little Pokémon saw the motion and backed away in fright, but soon lowered its guard as Platinum's presence just felt familiar. The heiress gently touched its cheek with her hand before pulling back, in case she was causing it discomfort.

The little Eevee soon climbed out of its broken egg shell, and took a cautious step towards Platinum. The heiress extended her hands again slowly, while her three juniors carefully watched in silence. After a few seconds, the Eevee hopped onto Platinum's lap and accepted her embrace.

Platinum let out a sigh of relief that sounded like a sob as she embraced her new Eevee. "Oh, I'm so relieved… You're okay!"

"Congratulations, Miss Platinum!" Y said happily from the side.

"We were so worried!" White said as well. "But maybe we should go to the nearest Pokémon Center, just in case."

Platinum nodded. "Yes. We will head there at once," she said as she wiped away her tears. She smiled brightly as she looked at her Eevee. "Will you come with me?"

The little Eevee nodded and happily wagged its tail while still in her embrace. Platinum gave it a soft kiss on the forehead and rose to her feet.

"We should head back first," Y said. "All of our stuff is still at the beach, with no one left to guard them. There might be more of those… weird jerks out there."

"And we're not going to a Pokémon Center like _this_ , are we?" White asked, pointing at her swimsuit. "The nearest Pokémon Center is still a bit far, so we should change back into our regular clothes before going there."

"I can go to the Pokémon Center ahead of you if you want," Moon offered. "I'm not in my swimsuit, so I can go on ahead with your Eevee and check if it's okay." She approached the Eevee in Platinum's arms and extended a hand.

The Eevee suddenly pulled back in fear at the approach of a complete stranger. Platinum saw the motion and turned away a bit to try to comfort it.

"The Eevee seems to be afraid of strangers at the moment," she said. "It appears that I must be the one to take it to the Pokémon Center." She slowly turned towards Moon again. "But perhaps you can take a look and see if it is okay."

Platinum carefully set the Eevee down on the ground, but remained crouching next to it. Moon crouched as well and looked at the Eevee, trying to see if there were any injuries or other irregularities. The Eevee backed away from her and only focused on following Platinum. The heiress moved around a bit, smiling and encouraging the Eevee to follow, while Moon observed the little Pokémon's movements.

"It looks perfectly healthy," she said after another couple of minutes.

"That's a relief," White said. "What a stroke of luck, really. Some jerk comes out of nowhere to steal the egg and smash it, and yet the Eevee hatched and is perfectly unharmed."

"We should still go to a Pokémon Center just to be sure," Moon said.

"Yes. We shall head there as soon as possible," Platinum said. "And afterwards, as per White's suggestion, we will go take a look at this region's newly opened Pokémon League."

…

Next day, July 2, Mount Lanakila, Ula'ula Island, Alola, 2pm…

…

Platinum, White, and Y stood facing the tall cliff wall that led to the Pokémon League. Moon apparently had something important she had to do so she could not accompany the three visiting Dex Holders.

Platinum held her Eevee in her arms and occasionally played with it. Thanks to her efforts when it was still an egg, the Eevee had gotten accustomed to her very quickly and was completely at ease around her.

… She also had her Swablu perched on her head, as the Cotton Bird Pokémon had apparently taken a real liking to her hat. It made things a bit tricky, as whenever Platinum lowered her head to play with her Eevee, her Swablu would also get tilted forward and almost fall off every time. At the very least, the Eevee appeared to be amused watching the Swablu flailing a bit to regain balance.

White took another picture as she looked around the area. She had already taken quite a few photos, as she intended on showing them to Black upon returning to Unova. That way, Black would be more inclined to take on the Pokémon League of Alola and achieve his dreams that were sort of ruined back in Unova.

"Ah, so that elevator takes us up the cliff and to the Pokémon League," White said as she pointed at the tiny elevator built on the cliff wall. "… It really doesn't look safe at all. It looks like a disaster just waiting to happen, really."

"The guys who built this place must've stress tested it," Y suggested. "So… it's probably safe. And if it's not… Kerokero here will save us."

"Well, let's get up there," White said after taking a picture of the tiny elevator. "… And brace yourselves."

The three Dex Holders approached the elevator and was about to step onto the rising platform when Platinum's Eevee suddenly perked up as if it had sensed something. Platinum stopped in her tracks and looked at her Pokémon. The Eevee looked around here and there as if it was looking for something particular before hopping out of its trainer's embrace.

"Oh? Is something wrong?" Platinum asked in surprise.

The Eevee began to walk somewhere, and Platinum quickly followed. White and Y watched her senior for a bit before following as well. The Eevee seemed to be following some sort of an invisible trail as it walked towards what appeared to be a cave entrance.

"Isn't that a bit dangerous for a newly hatched Eevee?" White asked.

"We'll make sure nothing bad happens," Y said as she jogged ahead. She stood by the cave entrance until she was sure that the Eevee was heading in there before going in first. "Ah, it's cold!"

"Eevee, where are you going?" Platinum asked in worry. "Is something wrong?

The Eevee shook its head but continued walking. Y glanced back at it occasionally while walking ahead, in case some wild Pokémon popped out.

Y turned a corner and jumped in surprise as something popped out from the shadows. She quickly prepared for battle in case there was one.

"What is it?" White asked as she got behind her junior. She soon saw the wild Pokémon as well. "Hey, is that a… Vulpix?"

"Seems like it," Y answered. "But… why is it… white?"

The Vulpix suddenly shot a stream of white mist at Y. She blocked the mist with her arm and cried out in surprise as a thick layer of ice encased her arm.

"What?! But… Vulpix is a Fire type!" White yelled in surprise as Y fell backwards, clutching at her frozen arm.

"It must be one of those Alola forms," Platinum said as she faced the Vulpix. "I have heard of these from Professor Rowan. They have differing types and abilities. So while a normal Vulpix is a Fire type, it seems that the Alola one is an Ice type. Interesting…" She took out a Pokéball from her bag containing her Empoleon. "… I will capture this one."

White and Y pulled away a little so that their senior would have some room for the battle. Y sent out her Bagon which began to use a low powered Flamethrower to quickly melt the ice encasing the girl's arm.

For a while, the battle between Empoleon and the wild Vulpix continued. Platinum had already noticed that the wild Vulpix had a huge weakness to Steel types, and was trying to avoid causing too much damage by using Steel type moves. The Vulpix also had the ability to use Freeze-Dry, which made things a bit problematic for Water types.

Platinum eventually decided to end the battle when the Vulpix appeared to be exhausted. The Empoleon charged towards the Vulpix with Drill Peck. The Vulpix didn't have the strength left to dodge the attack and ended up falling. Platinum quickly threw an empty Pokéball at the Vulpix. And since it didn't have the strength left to fight it for long, the capture succeeded.

"Capture successful. Congratulations, Lady Platinum," White said.

"Thank you. I look forward to learning the differences of the Alola Vulpix and a regular Vulpix." Platinum put the Pokéball in her bag and looked over at Y. "How is your arm?"

Y clenched her hand into a fist a few times. "Still stings a bit, but I think I'm fine. Thank you, Bobo."

The Bagon hopped up a bit before returning to its Pokéball, as it didn't like the coldness of the cave. Y put the Pokéball away and steadily rose up to her feet when Platinum's Eevee began to move again.

"Oh, here we go again," White said as she followed the little Eevee.

Y jogged ahead once more to take the lead, but being extra careful this time. The Eevee occasionally sniffed at the air but continued walking, still following some invisible trail.

Soon, the group came across a big clearing. There were holes in the wall and ceiling, which allowed natural light to enter and illuminate the area. And in the center of the clearing was a giant white rock.

"What is that?" Y asked. "… A block of ice? Snow?"

The Eevee walked up to the rock and sniffed at it. After sniffing around a bit more, it placed a paw on the rock and began to glow bright white. Platinum gasped in shock and hastily took a step forward until she realized what was happening.

"Is it… evolving?" White asked in surprise.

"This rock must be one of those ice rocks," Platinum said. "If I recall, there is one near Lake Acuity in Sinnoh. If an Eevee is around that rock, it will evolve into-"

The Eevee finished evolving and lowered its paw. It looked at the changes done to its body and circled around a bit before excitedly running towards its trainer again.

"It's a Glaceon!" Y said as she crouched in front of the newly evolved Pokémon. "Aww… it's so cute!" She extended her non-frozen hand to pet it. The Glaceon saw the motion and quickly breathed out at the hand, encasing it in a thin layer of ice. "Ah! My hand!" Y cried out, pulling her hand back. The layer of ice shattered quickly, and the girl spent a few seconds clenching and unclenching her hand to make sure everything was okay. She glared at the Glaceon, which had turned completely away, blatantly ignoring her now. "… Oh, I have a feeling that we are going to be _good_ friends…"

Platinum crouched as well and allowed the Glaceon to hop into her arms. "You must have sensed this rock from all the way out there. That is why you led us all here, no?"

The Glaceon happily nodded. Platinum smiled as she embraced her newly evolved Glaceon. But the Glaceon was a bit too heavy for her to easily carry it around, so she set it on the ground so that it would just follow her closely.

The group soon left the cave and back to the small elevator by the cliff. Platinum had memorized the path she took when her Eevee had led her, so it was easy to backtrack to get back outside.

And upon taking the very dangerous looking elevator, the three Dex Holders managed to reach Alola region's Pokémon League.

White soon became engrossed with taking pictures and notes about the Alola League for Black, which left Platinum and Y alone to themselves for a while.

"Y," Platinum began as a thought occurred.

"Yes?"

"I have been thinking about this for a while now, but… I think it would help you greatly if you take on the Pokémon League in Kalos."

"How so?" Y asked.

"To challenge the Pokémon League, a trainer and the Pokémon need to be working together very effectively. So to you, just the process of getting to the Pokémon League can help you regain confidence in your Pokémon." Platinum smiled as she recalled her journey around Sinnoh. "And speaking from experience, just traveling with your friends, overcoming the challenges of the Gyms and becoming stronger with your Pokémon is very fun. You must give it a try."

Y thought about the idea of traveling with her friends around Kalos… but without the feeling of being chased and hunted. A leisurely travel with friends, bonding with her Pokémon more and more… it certainly sounded promising. She looked at her senior's scarf and saw the 8 Sinnoh Gym Badges pinned on it. She also thought about Sapphire's 8 Hoenn Gym Badges pinned on her bag, and thought about the possibility of her joining her two seniors in having all 8 Gym Badges of her region. It'd certainly give credibility to her skills as a trainer…

Y took out the Pokéballs containing her Gible and Bagon. The Pokémon League challenge would also provide the perfect opportunity for her to better befriend her two new Pokémon and become stronger with them.

"… Okay. I'll give it a shot," she said with a determined nod.

Platinum smiled brightly. "Splendid. You will do admirably. I look forward to hearing your progress."

"It might take some work, convincing X to come with me on a journey like this," Y began. "I don't think he'd want to go anywhere near a Pokémon League."

"But he would be interested if it is helpful to you," Platinum countered. "After all, he is the one who called White and informed her about what happened to you. He cares about you more than you think. He would be willing to come along if you ask him."

"If you think so… I'll definitely ask him," Y said. "… I think I'll ask him the moment I return to Kalos."

…

3 days later, Pokémon League, Kalos, 2 pm…

…

Y finished circling around the large structure and steadily landed on a large hill of the Victory Road that offered a great view of the Pokémon League structure. Her Fletchinder let go of the Bagon and perched on Y's shoulder, as Y sent out the remainder of her team.

"Check it out, guys," she said as she looked at the large structure. "That's our goal, right there. We can't challenge the Pokémon League right now since I'm not qualified for it, but that's what our journey will be for. Can you feel the excitement?"

Her Pokémon all nodded. Y watched each one and nodded approvingly.

"All right. We'll start training immediately, but we'll take it a bit easy today. So we'll be training in here for a little while before going home to rest. So let's do this."

For a while, Y watched over her Pokémon as they trained. She put more focus on Bagon and Gible since they were new. And because the two Dragons seemed to be focusing on outdoing each other, Y thought about possible ways to use that rivalry for the better. The Bagon seemed to prefer ranged attacks while the Gible preferred close range, so if the two could work together, they would be able to accomplish so much…

Y thought about the Kalos Gym Leaders and her rough plan for facing each of them. Currently, she felt that Bagon and Gible needed more training before they can be that useful in an actual battle, while the other 3 in her team were perfectly ready.

Against Viola and her Bug types, Y planned on using Fletchinder and Bagon, but more emphasis on Bagon for the sake of training. If Viola annoyed her too much, then she'd focus more on Fletchinder. But… Y didn't want to be that aggressive against her, given that whole… "Shauna's mind control" incident a while back. The Santalune Gym Leader had saved her life, and Y didn't want to "repay" that by challenging her with a Pokémon that had superior type advantage over her entire team.

Against Grant and his Rock types, Y had Gible and Greninja, but again with more focus on Gible. Hopefully by then, Gible would've mastered some Ground type attack other than a simple burrow-charge.

Korrina's Fighting types would have to be matched with Sylveon and Fletchinder. And extra caution had to be taken for that Mega Lucario.

Ramos and his Grass types wouldn't be an issue given Fletchinder and Bagon's Flamethrower. Especially if Bagon evolved once… or twice.

… Clemont could go suck on a Gible or a Gabite or a Garchomp. No worries there.

Y suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when she heard something rustling from behind. She quickly spun around and gathered her Pokémon, in the event of a wild Pokémon attacking.

And as Y watched with narrowed eyes, a small figure stumbled out of the bushes. Y blinked a few times, as the small Pokémon was not what she had imagined when she thought about wild Pokémon in the Victory Road. The small Pokémon stumbled some more and promptly walked into a tree.

Y approached the small Pokémon and recognized it as a Deino. The little Pokémon was covered in scratches and injuries, as if it had been attacked recently. Y crouched next to the Deino as it struggled up to its feet.

"Hey, are you okay?" Y asked worriedly.

The Deino perked up at hearing her voice and moved around, trying to see where the voice was coming from. … Except that Deino can't see in the first place, so it ended up walking into a tree again.

Y reached for it but it suddenly snapped its jaw in the air, trying to bite whatever it was that was coming closer. The girl quickly pulled her hand back and instead, took out her Pokédex.

"Okay… Deino…" she muttered as she read the data. " _They can't see so they tackle and bite things to learn their surroundings. Their bodies are covered in wounds._ " Y glanced at the Deino and nodded. "Yep. Seems to be the case. _They eat anything that moves._ … Um… I don't think I'll be trying to pet you again…" She put away her Pokédex and took out some Dragon food that she had for Bagon and Gible. "But here, you can eat this though. And only this, mind you."

The Deino soon caught the smell of the food and clumsily stumbled over. It sniffed around to detect where the food was exactly and soon chomped into it… except that it missed and it ended up eating a mouthful of dirt.

Y giggled as she saw the Deino try again. She found it surprisingly… cute (and sadly comical). It soon succeeded in eating some Dragon food, and appeared to like it quite a bit. It wolfed down all the food that Y had placed (and even an inch of dirt underneath the food), and began to look around for some more.

The Deino stopped right in front of Y's knee, as it detected something new. It suddenly opened its mouth to take a bite.

"Ah! No!" Y quickly shouted as she stumbled backwards. And surprisingly, the Deino stopped in its motion. And instead, it stumbled closer towards her and looked up. "Do you… want some more?" Y asked, being careful to stay out of its biting range. The Deino seemed to nod. "Okay then. Here you go," she said as she poured some more food onto the ground in front of the Deino. She looked back as she heard some annoyed growling, and saw her Bagon and Gible looking a bit upset. "Calm down, Bobo and Toto. I'll get you more food. I was going to stop by a store and buy more on the way home anyways, so… just relax."

The Deino let out a short bark-like-cry of delight and began to eat the food again. Y watched it eat for a while before she rose to her feet.

"Okay, guys, let's get back to training," she said as she faced her Pokémon. She began to walk towards her Pokémon but stopped after a few steps when she heard something shuffling from behind. She turned around again and saw that the Deino had finished eating everything and was walking behind her. It didn't notice that Y had stopped, as it soon walked right into her leg. "Oh? Do you want more food?"

The Deino didn't nod, but instead just looked up at her (not that it could see though). Y took another couple of steps forward before stopping and watched. There was a pause before Deino realize that Y wasn't standing right in front of it anymore, and quickly stumbled forward to catch up. But again, it failed to notice that Y had stopped, and ran into her leg once again.

Y smiled and crouched in front of the Deino. "Aww, you're cute," she said as she carefully extended a hand. The Deino faced the incoming hand, but sniffed first instead of biting first. It recognized Y's scent and let the girl pet it. Y gently lifted the Deino into her arms, expecting it to be a lot heavier. "Oh, you're a lot lighter than I thought," she said as she easily lifted it off the ground. "But… why are you following me around? You don't seem to want more food. … Do you… want to come with me and join my team?"

The Deino nodded enthusiastically. Y smiled happily and reached for an empty Pokéball from her bag. The Deino offered no resistance and allowed itself to be captured. Y looked at the Deino in the ball for a brief moment before sending it out. And the moment the Deino appeared next to her other Pokémon, she suddenly realized that she now had a full team of 6 once again.

Ever since she had released Xerneas, returned Rhyhorn to her mother (or rather, letting it stay in the backyard), and was forced to release Absol, she had only half of a team. But now, she had a full team once again. And she never felt so… excited before. She couldn't wait to begin her journey around Kalos to conquer the Gyms with her new team.

"Deino, from now on, I'm going to call you… Saza," Y said as she petted the Deino. "And now… our team is ready. Fletchy, Kerokero, Veevee, Bobo, Toto, and Saza… together, we'll make one hell of a good team. So let's do it! Let's go conquer the Kalos Gyms!"

* * *

 **Sorry for this part being SO long. … It was not intentional.**

 **Now that Platinum and Y have filled their teams, the main story can officially begin.**

 **And the islands of Poké Pelago are just going to be regular islands, and not… weird-looking like they are in the games. Because that makes no sense. … Not that Poké Pelago islands are going to appear in the story again.**


	4. Rendezvous

**At long last, Legacy has now officially started.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Rendezvous

August 10, Pallet Town, Kanto, 7 am…

Blue lightly hummed to herself as she continued rolling up the rice with the dried seaweed. She was careful to not overdo with the ingredients, keeping the delicate balance to make each cut portion to be perfectly filling and flavorful but not overly big. Once she was satisfied that the roll was not overly filled and that it wouldn't fall apart, she took the knife and sliced the roll into perfect sized bites. She neatly stacked them in the lunchbox before taking out another sheet of dried seaweed to make another roll.

Unfortunately, she had to pack quite a lot, given how many people would be eating this lunch. And since Red was completely helpless in terms of preparing food, Blue had to prepare everything herself.

Not that she minded, of course. Red had offered her a place to live when she had nowhere else to go, and he was letting her live in his house for free, providing her the care and warmth that she realized she had been longing for a very long time. Making the meals was the very least that she could do. And honestly, Red had tried to make her food once, and that was a disaster, so… things were better this way.

For another hour, Blue kept preparing the lunch while humming to herself. She soon heard a creak in the stairs and realized that Red had woken up from the alarm clock and had wandered downstairs to see what she was up to.

"Good morning, Red," Blue said cheerfully as she turned to look at him.

"Morning," Red said with a wave, still looking half asleep. He let out a long yawn. "… I am not used to waking up this early…"

"I know. I'd prefer to catch a few more hours of sleep myself," Blue said, returning to work. "But… can't be helped this time. You don't want to let your juniors know that you didn't go out to greet them because you were asleep."

"Yeah, I know," Red said as he stepped closer. "What are you making there? Our breakfast?"

"No. This is going to be our lunch," Blue answered. "We'll need something to eat for the trip, don't we? Especially the visiting juniors."

"… Can I have some though?" Red asked. "I'm getting hungry."

"No, Red. This is for the juniors. I'll make our breakfast afterwards. I'm almost done."

Red let out a short groan. He kept his eyes glued on the nicely packed lunch, occasionally glancing at Blue to make sure that she was distracted. Once she started on a new roll, he slowly and carefully reached for the open pack so that he could steal a bite. Blue felt the motion behind her, alerted by the fact that Red was being too quiet, and quickly turned to look at the hand reaching for the food. She quickly but lightly swatted it away.

"I said no, Red."

"Ow?" Red said as he pulled his hand back. "… Can't I just have one?"

"Nope. You must be patient, Red. _Patience_."

"Oh, but I'm starving right now," Red whined as he planned his next move. The moment Blue turned around again, he quickly swiped a piece out of the lunch pack, and stuffed it in his mouth.

Blue obviously heard and felt the rapid motion, and swiveled around once again. She noticed the empty piece in the neatly aligned grid of pieces in the pack. "What the…" She lightly glared at Red, who was averting eye contact while feigning innocence. He apparently didn't account for the fact that there'd be rice pieces stuck on his face near the mouth. She let out a short sigh. "Oh well. I guess it can't be helped. You can have the rest of this row. But no more, mister. This has to be neatly packed for the juniors."

"Thank you!" Red said as he began moving the pieces onto a plate. He finally began to chew the piece he had stolen. "Wow, this is good."

Blue smiled as she watched him stuffing more pieces into his mouth before he even finished eating the last piece. She resumed preparing lunch and by the time she had finished, Red had finished eating the few pieces he was given and was waiting patiently.

"There. And now we can have breakfast," Blue said with a short sigh of relief.

"And I will wait patiently," Red said as he moved towards the kitchen counter once more to stack the lunch boxes inside a small bag.

Blue watched him and noticed that there was still a rice piece stuck right next to the corner of his mouth. When he turned to face her, she instinctively reached out with her fingers, with the intent of brushing away the rice. But just before her finger made contact with him, she paused. … This action was way too intimate. … She could not do it. She _must_ not do it, either. Red looked over at her hand, wondering why she was reaching out for him. Blue quickly reacted and used her outstretched hand to point at the rice.

"You got some food stuck on your face there," she said as she quickly pulled her hand back.

"Huh? Oh." Red felt the rice stuck next to his mouth and consumed it. "Thanks."

Blue felt her smile fading and spun around to hide her expression from Red. Instead, she chose to focus on making breakfast, distracting herself from her thoughts.

Within half an hour, Blue finished making breakfast and sat across the table from Red. For a while, the two Dex Holders ate in silence. Red was focusing on enjoying the delicious meal, and Blue chose to focus on what was going to happen in a few hours.

Red suddenly broke the silence. "When exactly are they going to arrive?" he asked, referring to the juniors that were visiting Kanto.

After the vacation trip to Alola, Platinum, White, and Y have decided to go on another vacation trip, this time to the joined regions of Kanto and Johto. Though they initially planned to arrive on Kanto before Red's birthday on August 8, White had a slight issue within her companies that delayed the trip by a few days.

Apparently White was bringing Black for the trip, so Red wouldn't be _too_ bored or lonely, being on a trip with only girls. Y had attempted to bring X as well, but that hadn't gone according to plan, it seemed. And Diamond and Pearl were currently in Johto, so they wouldn't be coming with Platinum, but instead joining the group later on.

And upon request from Platinum, Red and Blue agreed to accompany the visitors, almost like a tour guide. Blue looked forward to enjoying a nice relaxing vacation with her juniors, and planned to use this opportunity to bond even more with them. And Red… looked forward to seeing how stronger they've become.

Blue checked the time. "They'll arrive in about three hours. Just enough time for us to finish eating, clean up, and head to Vermilion City and wait for them. Although they're all coming in different ships, so some are going to arrive earlier."

"I can't wait to see how stronger they've gotten," Red said (predictably) with a grin. "You think we'll have time for a little practice battle when they arrive?"

Blue let out a short sigh. "I anticipated this would happen, so yes. I made sure we'd have some time to catch up and… battle before going."

"Oh, I can't wait," Red said. He quickly wolfed down the rest of his breakfast. "All right. I'll clean the dishes while you get ready for the day. That'll save us some time, right?"

Blue smiled and finished eating her breakfast. "Okay then. I guess I take up more time in getting ready for the day."

…

Vermilion City harbor, 10:30 am…

…

Blue tilted the rim of her hat to shield herself better from the strong sunlight. She remained standing outside the harbor, leaning against the guard rails the prevented people from accidentally walking off into the ocean.

Red stood beside her with a large backpack that contained the prepared lunch and a variety of other necessary equipment, such as sleeping bags, kitchen utensils, and spare clothes. He briefly wondered if he had everything needed for a trip around Kanto and quite possibly Johto, but he figured that Blue would've prepared for pretty much everything, and they could always stop by a store for resupplying.

The ship from Kalos was first to arrive. Red and Blue watched as waves after waves of people exited the harbor, trying to find Y amidst the people. They eventually found her trudging out the harbor, looking _very_ tired, as if she had just woken up from a not-so-restful sleep.

Y dragged her luggage lazily behind her. Once she had finally stepped out into the bright sunlight, she let out a long yawn and stretched her limbs. Once she rubbed her eyes, she finally spotted Red and Blue waving at her from afar.

She finally seemed to snap awake upon seeing them, and happily waved back at them. She quickly ran towards them, being careful not to run into anyone.

"Hi, Y," Blue said with a smile as her Kalos junior approached. "It's great to see you again."

"Hi, Blue, and Red," Y said happily. "And happy belated birthday, Red."

"Huh? Oh yeah. Thanks," Red said with a smile.

"So… looks like you've had a good night's sleep," Blue said jokingly, examining her junior's tired expression. "Enjoy the cruise here?"

Y let out a long groan. "Ugh… I _hate_ water…" she said bitterly. "… I've been seasick for the entire trip here…"

"But you've been to Alola with Platinum and White, haven't you?" Blue asked. "Surely you must've taken a lot of ferries."

"Yeah, but Miss Platinum arranged all of them, and she picked the most luxurious ships," Y said. "Those… didn't make me seasick. But _this one_ … ugh. … Please tell me we aren't going to take another ferry…"

Blue grinned. "Oh, I was planning to include a tour of the Sevii Islands, which are only accessible via ferries."

"Yeah. Blue lived there for a while, so she knows all the best spots," Red said as well. "It would've been perfect."

Y shuddered as she recalled how many times she had thrown up on the trip to Kanto. "… I can only hope that you're joking. It's bad enough that I have to take another cheap ferry back to Kalos once all this is over…"

Blue smiled. "Of course we're joking, kid. Don't worry. This group tour is supposed to be relaxing and fun for everyone."

"Oh, speaking of fun," Red began. "I heard from Platinum that you're taking on the Kalos Gyms. How's that going for you?"

Y grinned as she held up her right hand. On her wrist was a large wristband of sorts, and on them, all 8 Kalos Gym Badges were pinned. "I got them all!" she said triumphantly, with her other hand on her hip, obviously quite proud of herself.

"Oh, wow, congratulations," Blue said with a short applause. "I didn't think you'd beat all of them so quickly. You must've beaten Platinum's record, and certainly beat Sapphire's record."

"And mine," Red said with a laugh. "Now I have four juniors who got all 8 Gym Badges of their region faster than I did."

"Oh? How long did you take?" Y asked.

Red shrugged. "I don't know. About… 14 years and counting?"

"Huh?"

Blue chuckled a bit. "Red never got the 8th Gym Badge."

"Yep," Red said. "I beat Giovanni in Viridian City, who was the Viridian City Gym Leader at the time, but… neither of us was awake, and… when I woke up I wasn't there anymore. And he wasn't there anymore. And he never gave me the Earth Badge. And I don't really care, so… there you go."

"Well, that's a weird technicality," Y commented. "But still, it's not fair to compare myself with you or Sapphire or Miss Platinum. Or Black, for that matter. You all battled the Gyms on your first travels. I did it on my second. I know that Sapphire spent a tremendous amount of time in-between Gyms to explore mountains and forests, and even paused her challenges to fight Team Aqua and Team Magma. Miss Platinum also had to deal with Team Galactic as well. While I pretty much just made a beeline for each Gym with nothing else to worry about."

"Where'd you get that wristband?" Blue asked, looking at the weirdly plastic-looking wristband. "It doesn't look like something you can get at a random store."

"No. This is something that Clemont, the Lumiose Gym Leader, gave to me," Y explained. "It has 8 slots, one for each Kalos Gym Badge, and it holds the Badges in place with a short-ranged magnetic field, so they won't fall out or anything. It's really handy. I've actually thought a lot about where I was going to pin the Badges. Sapphire has her bag, Miss Platinum has her scarf, and Black has his coat. So I wanted to pin them somewhere new, but I didn't know where exactly. And Clemont gave me the solution."

"So, are you going to challenge the Pokémon League now?" Blue asked.

Y shook her head. "No. Not yet, at any rate. Some of the battles were very tough, so I plan on getting a bit stronger before tackling the Pokémon League."

"I can help you with that," Red said. "I've been waiting to see how stronger you've gotten."

"Sure! If you're willing to train me, I'll give it everything I've got!" Y exclaimed, looking excited. But she suddenly faltered a bit. "… But not today. I still have quite a headache from all the seasickness."

Red gave her a pat on the shoulder. "No worries. Today's not the only day. It wouldn't be fun if one side of a battle had to fight a headache at the same time. So rest up, Y. And I'll see how strong you've gotten tomorrow."

…

Half an hour later, the ship from Unova arrived, and again, Red and Blue watched as countless people poured out from the harbor. Blue lightly fanned herself with her foldable fan and waited to see the familiar figures.

Red bit into the popsicle he had bought from the nearby store. Of course, he had offered to buy one for Blue and Y as well, with only Y accepting the offer. Blue glanced at Y licking away on the popsicle and momentarily wished that she didn't refuse the offer. Then again… she didn't _really_ want one, so… eh…

"Oh!" Y said abruptly, squinting to get a better vision. "Ah-ha! Lovebirds spotted!" she said as she pointed at the entrance of the harbor.

Red and Blue looked ahead and saw Black and White exiting the harbor while holding hands.

"Lovebirds, huh?" Blue said with a short laugh. "I suppose it suits them."

The two _lovebirds_ spotted the other Dex Holders and soon ran up to them. White waved as she ran close, still holding onto Black's hand as he dragged their luggage with his other hand.

"Good to see you two," Blue said once they got close. Her eyes flickered down to the joined hands. "Or are you pretty much one entity now?"

White looked down and realized that she was still holding onto Black's hand, and quickly released it. "Ah! I… um…"

"Too late for that," Y said with a grin. "You might as well keep holding hands from now on."

White felt heat rushing up to her cheeks and tried to retaliate. "And are we supposed to believe that nothing happened between you and X in Kalos?" she asked. "I mean, you two did travel around Kalos again… all by yourselves."

"Ha! Yeah right," Y said with a huff. "Like that'll ever happen."

"I'm sure he'd love to hold your hand if you ever extended it," White said, looking at her junior's hand. "I mean, if… … Um… Y, what is that on your wrist?"

Y grinned, as if she was just waiting for her ask. "Oh, this?" she asked smugly as she raised her right hand. "It's nothing, really. Just _all 8 Kalos Gym Badges_."

"No way!" White exclaimed. "You beat all 8 Gyms already? Wow! You beat them much faster than Black!"

Y started to laugh and Black narrowed his eyes. "… Why bring me into this, Miss President?"

"Sorry. But it's true! She beat the Gyms much faster than you. Even factoring out the whole Team Plasma thing…" White suddenly grinned a bit. "Y may be a stronger trainer than you, Black."

Black's eyes twitched. "Oh, we'll see about that! Y, battle me right now!"

Y licked her popsicle. "No. I have a headache today. And tomorrow, Red promised to train me, so I won't have time for you."

"What?!" Black swiveled around to face Red. "Red! Train me right now!"

Red rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know if there's time. I mean, the ship from Sinnoh is about to arrive. And once it does, I'd like to see Platinum's new team."

Black groaned as he realized that his _ranking_ was below Platinum _and_ Y. Platinum, he understood. But Y? … No way. He glared at Y, who was looking off into the distance while licking her popsicle. She sensed his gaze and looked over at him, only to stick her dyed tongue out at him before looking off once again.

Blue looked towards the harbor, realizing that the ship from Sinnoh had docked already as well. And Platinum was the first person out of the harbor. Most likely, the heiress had bought the most expensive ticket, which would've resulted in her disembarking first. Platinum immediately spotted the other Dex Holders and quickly made her way over.

Red and Y saw the heiress coming, as did White. But Black failed to notice, as he was looking the wrong direction and currently agitated from being taunted.

"You know, Y? It doesn't matter how strong you've gotten… or you _think_ you've gotten. I've been training nonstop too. And you know what? I'm much stronger now than I've been when I took on the Unova Gyms. I'm probably stronger than Platinum at this point."

White opened her mouth to try to say something, but couldn't say anything. She could only watch as Platinum quietly moved to stand right behind Black, obviously not appreciating his comment.

"Really, Black?" she asked, her voice calm as the waters of Lake Verity.

Black jumped and felt a cold shiver down his spine. He slowly turned around and saw his senior standing right behind him with a rather cold looking expression. It was her normal expression, he knew, but her posture and lack of smile said otherwise.

"Would you like to _test_ your claims?" Platinum asked, her voice becoming as cold as the waters of Lake Acuity.

Black could tell that Platinum already had a Pokéball in hand. He slowly leaned towards White.

"… Miss President, what can you tell me about her team?" he whispered. "You said that she got some new Pokémon, right?"

White let out a short sigh. "Yes. And if Lady Platinum wanted to, she could turn your whole team into popsicles."

Black blinked and looked over at Y, who licked her popsicle once again, but with a grin on her face. He leaned towards White again. "So… what should I do?"

"You _might_ want to apologize," White whispered. "Just in case she decides to freeze _you_."

Black gulped and in a blink of an eye, dropped to his knees and bowed to his Sinnoh senior. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it."

Platinum smiled at his overreaction, but turned her attention to Red and Blue. She gave them a polite bow. "Hello, senior Red. Senior Blue."

Blue waved at her. "Hi, Platinum. Nice to see you again."

"How's the Eevee egg?" Red asked.

Platinum pressed a button on the Pokéball she was holding. For the sake of surprise, she had not told Red or Blue that the Eevee egg had hatched and then evolved, and she was going to reveal that information now.

Her Glaceon popped out of the Pokéball… and landed on top of Black, who was still bowing on his knees.

"Glaceon?" Blue said in surprise. "Oh, so it hatched and evolved already? Wow."

Platinum smiled and gently pet her Glaceon. "Yes. And thanks to the advices from senior Gold, it has warmed up to me greatly."

"But not anyone else," Y said from the side. "Be careful. That thing likes to freeze hands of those that try to pet it."

"I'm sure it just needs time to warm up to everyone else," Blue said. ' _Just like its trainer…_ '

"Well, now that everyone's here," Red began. "Platinum, let's see how stronger you've gotten. We have some time before we need to get going, so let's have a little practice battle."

"Yes, senior. Of course," Platinum said eagerly. "Come, Glaceon. Let us demonstrate our teamwork."

The Glaceon nodded and hopped off of Black, who then finally raised himself off of the ground. The Glaceon didn't even acknowledge him and just followed its trainer towards an appropriate empty ground for a small battle.

Black let out a long sigh and followed the group. He began to regret following White, as he realized that he was in the wrong group. Given what just happened, he realized that the _ranking_ of everyone here went as: Blue, Red, Platinum, _Platinum's Glaceon_ , White, Y, and then himself all the way in the bottom. And he did not like it one bit.

…

Meanwhile, classified location, Kanto…

…

"We've been given the signal from the boss," said the division leader to his three assistants. "We are to commence Project K3. But my recommendations for the project's scale haven't been accepted, so we didn't get additional funding." He walked up to the chalkboard and began writing down a list of items. "I believe that this project has no value if it's not fully pursued. Which means, it comes down to us to procure the necessary resources for ourselves."

"What exactly do we need?" asked one of the assistants.

"For one, we need additional funding," said the division leader, writing it down on the board. "More the better. It doesn't matter how we procure it, as long as we procure it. I don't care if we have to win the damn lottery to get more money, but we need it. There's only so much that cheap materials can do for us."

"Easy enough," said another assistant. "We can kidnap someone and demand ransom, rob a bank, or… steal lottery tickets, if no other opportunity presents itself."

"Next up is something a bit more difficult. We need a sample of a certain machine interface. While it's common knowledge that the Pokémon Rotom can enter and possess appliances, not a lot know that it can possess any specially designed machine, allowing it fully interface with all of its functions. We need to study that for K3."

"We'll have to gather everything we know about Rotom before we can proceed with that one," said the assistant. "More unfortunately, Rotom is not native here in Kanto. So we'll have to find it in another region."

"Yes," the division leader said with a nod. "But the biggest problem and the most important is the final missing piece. We need a volunteer. And not just any volunteer. We need a calm individual that's also exceptionally brilliant. We can't nab a random person off the streets and expect the project to work. We need to find the perfect candidate. And to do that, we will most likely need the personality bios files from the main server, which of course is inaccessible to us. So, I want each of you to handle one of the major requirements. There are also a plethora of other miscellaneous requirements, but I will handle those myself."

"Understood, sir."

"Good. And remember, this is the final attempt at making this work. There will not be a K4. So this is the very last chance we have of validating our years of work and research. So let's make this work. Good hunting. Dismissed."

* * *

 **Note that in Cycle, Gold's "week 12" is the week that has Platinum visiting him in Legacy Prologue – Sinnoh. Which means, by the time of Red's birthday, as in, Legacy #001, it's "week 21", so Legacy main story takes place after everything Cycle.**


	5. Loneliness

Chapter 2: Loneliness

August 10, Saffron City, Kanto, 1 pm…

"And… ah, here they are. C10 through 16," Red said as he glanced at the seat numbers on the magnet train. "Well, technically C8 through 16."

Blue looked at the 8 seats that Platinum had reserved, even though only 6 would be occupied this time. "I suppose the juniors should have the window seats. It's not easy for them to ride the magnet train connecting Kanto and Johto."

"All right!" Y exclaimed happily without raising her voice too much. "Sightseeing!"

Red and Blue stepped off to the side, letting the juniors take the window seats. Y rushed ahead first, but stopped abruptly before taking a seat.

"Something wrong?" Blue asked.

Y shook her head. "No, I just realized… Miss Platinum, you should pick first."

"Oh? Thank you," Platinum said with a smile. She soon picked the window seat, but facing away from the direction of the train.

Y took the seat on the opposite side of the table from her. Red sat next to Platinum, leaving Blue to sit next to Y, while Black and White took the window seats on the table on the other side of the aisle from the rest. Red set the "lunch bag" on the empty seat next to Black, and Blue set the miscellaneous supplies bag on the empty seat next to White, while the juniors put their luggage on the space provided overhead.

"Ooh, comfortable," White commented as she leaned back into her seat. "But I'm starting to get hungry. When do we eat lunch?"

"Once the train starts moving, we'll eat," Blue said. "Since this isn't on a direct path to Goldenrod City, it's going to take a few hours. Once we arrive, we should have just enough time to reach Route 35 and set up camp before making dinner. So… Y, you should cut down on the snacks."

Y took a sip of her slushie. "I'm almost done."

"You don't want to spoil your appetite," Red said. "The packed lunch is _very_ good."

Y nodded, and quickened her slurping speed, aiming to finish her slushie as fast as possible.

White chuckled a bit. "You can't easily take candy from a child, right? Once they get a taste of sugar, they just get hyper attached to it."

Y cast a quick glare at her senior. "You say something?"

"Just kidding," White said with a smile. She glanced at her junior's wrists, looking at the Mega Ring on the left wrist. "Huh. Why do you still have your Mega Ring on? You don't have any Pokémon that can Mega Evolve at the moment. And given your other wrist _accessory_ , I'd imagine that having both on at the same time can be a bit… frustrating and confusing."

Y glanced at her wrists. "Eh, not really. Once you get a Mega Ring and get used to it, you just don't really notice it anymore. Besides, while I used to press the button on the Mega Ring on my left wrist quite often, I have no reason to do anything like that for the Badges on my right wrist, so it's not confusing at all."

"I suppose once you obtain your own Mega Ring, you will feel the same," Platinum said. "You will still have your Xtransceiver, so you will have the Mega Ring on your other wrist."

White glanced at the Xtransceiver on her wrist, and then at her other wrist. "Oh, I'd probably get confused so badly… I'm sure I'd end up calling someone on the Xtransceiver when I wanted to Mega Evolve something." She laughed a bit. "Oh, wouldn't that be amusing. Mega Evolve! … Oh whoops, I just called the VP."

"Once you get used to it, it probably won't happen," Blue said. "At first though… yeah."

"Still, even with the confusion at first, it's definite worth it," Red said.

"Absolutely," Platinum agreed.

"Being able to use Mega Evolution significantly boosts your team's overall battle proficiency," Blue said. "Depending on circumstances, you can have your stronger Pokémon Mega Evolve to further boost its own power, or you can also have the weaker Pokémon Mega Evolve, which then allows your other team members to focus on coordinating attacks instead of supporting or defending. And in the event that you have more than one Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution, the possibilities increase even more."

"Yeah. So Y, once your new Pokémon fully evolve and thus become capable of Mega Evolving, your team would be much stronger than your previous team," Red said. "And you'd definitely be able to beat most of your seniors who don't have Mega Evolution. Like Black."

Black grumbled something and glanced over at Y, who was grinning triumphantly. He could tell that she was absolutely delighted to hear it. She looked over at him and smiled before taking a slow slurp of her slushie.

"Black, White, you two should aim to get a Mega Ring of your own," Platinum suggested.

"But we don't have any Pokémon that can Mega Evolve, though," White said.

"While I do not know about Black, surely you will be able to change some of your Pokémon," Platinum said. "You have once said that you have captured some of your Pokémon due to their potential in the BW Agency. Which means you will be able to capture some more Pokémon for a similar purpose."

Y nodded. "Yeah. Think about the possible uses in the Pokéstar Studios. Oh no, the hero's Pokémon is going down! But suddenly, BAM! Mega Evolution to turn the tide! Or… the villain could use Mega Evolution to be an even bigger threat. And imagine if the villain could somehow Mega Evolve multiple Pokémon at once!"

White thought about the potential uses for a brief moment. "… Good idea. I guess it could work. But maybe I should do a bit of a test first. Like… Lady Platinum, maybe I can borrow your Lopunny and Altaria for the protagonist role, and Y, I can borrow your eventual Salamence and Garchomp for a villain role."

"Why are my Pokémon going to be villains?" Y asked with a frown.

"Think about it. A Garchomp snarling in anger while swinging its razor sharp claws, destroying everything in its path…" White began. "… Definitely more of a villainy vibe."

"Especially with the dual reaper blades upon Mega Evolving," Blue added. "Although I think a Hydreigon would be best suited for a villain role than Garchomp or Salamence, even if it doesn't have a Mega Evolution yet. The Dark typing certainly adds to that."

Y pouted a bit. "No way. Saza is too adorable for a villain role."

Black frowned. "… Adorable?" He checked his Pokédex. "… The Deino evolution line goes from being an Irate Pokémon, to a Hostile Pokémon, to finally a Brutal Pokémon. And you say that it's _adorable_? I'm pretty sure it's closer to being _atrocious_."

"No!" Y reached into her bag and sent out her Zweilous. "Check it for yourself."

The Zweilous landed on the table and sniffed at the air. It soon caught Y's scent and happily turned towards her while wagging its tail. Y smiled and reached out to pet it. The two heads of the Zweilous both rushed towards the incoming hand, as if competing to get petted first.

"See?" Y said as her Zweilous leaned into her, as if it was trying to either embrace her, or prompting her to embrace it. "Look how cute it is!"

"… Maybe," White said, walking over to approach the Zweilous. She slowly reached out towards it with her hand. "Easy, Saza…"

The Zweilous sniffed at the air and caught an unfamiliar scent approaching. Both of its heads quickly turned to face the incoming hand, and the closest head quickly chomped at the air while the other head snarled viciously. White quickly pulled her hand back and stumbled backwards.

"Okay, okay!" she cried out once she was out of its biting range.

Platinum reached out towards the Zweilous next, but after sending out her Glaceon first. The Hostile Pokémon caught her scent as well, and snarled again. Platinum didn't try to pet it, however, and kept her distance. The Zweilous acted first, almost leaping towards the heiress to chase her away. Platinum pulled back as her Glaceon flash-froze a thin wall between its trainer and the charging Zweilous. The Hostile Pokémon hit the ice barrier and stumbled backwards, surprised by the sudden collision. Realizing that an Ice type Pokémon was out in the vicinity, the Zweilous let out a whimper and pulled back towards Y, seeking protection.

Y gently embraced her Zweilous as Platinum's Glaceon hissed angrily. She let out a short sigh. "Saza's in a bad mood today, I think. It usually doesn't do that."

"Uh-huh, sure," Black said from the side. "It sure looked to be in a good mood when it first went to you."

"Seriously, it never did this before," Y argued. "Maybe it just needs to get used to the surroundings."

"Don't worry about it," Blue said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's in their nature. Once it evolves and gains sight, it'll likely recognize its trainer's friends and allies."

Black checked his Pokédex again. "I don't know about that. Apparently Hydreigon will attack anything that moves. It _responds_ to movement by attacking. And I'm sure a Dragon Pulse isn't the best way of saying hello."

Y gently petted her Zweilous. "Maybe the ones in the wild would do that. But I'm sure Saza will be just nice and fine." She suddenly shivered a bit, as the temperature seemed to have dropped quite significantly. She then realized that Platinum's Glaceon was still glaring at her. "Um… Miss Platinum, could you please ease your Glaceon?"

Platinum placed her hand on her Glaceon's back. The Glaceon looked at its trainer, and upon seeing her warm smile, it dropped its hostility and stopped emitting chill from its body.

"Well, at the very least, if Y's Dragon type Pokémon won't restrain their destructive urges, then Platinum's Ice type Pokémon can force them to calm down," Red said.

Y clenched her teeth but didn't say anything. She simply looked at her Zweilous, and sincerely hoped that it would not attack anything on sight upon evolution.

…

A couple of hours later…

…

Blue slowly yawned as she woke up from her sleep. Realizing that she had dozed off shortly after lunch, she quickly blinked to shake away the sleepiness as fast as she could. Hopefully, the juniors didn't need her in the time she was asleep. That would be rather embarrassing.

She glanced to her right, and saw Y staring out the window, occasionally taking pictures as the train sped past various sights.

Ahead of her, Red and Platinum were both fast asleep. Red had an extremely content look on his face as he lightly snored. Given the empty containers stacked on the table right in front of him, he had obviously eaten some more of the packed lunch after finishing his share.

To his left, Platinum slept while leaning against something fluffy and white. It took Blue a few seconds to realize that it was the girl's newly captured Swablu that had evolved into Altaria. The Altaria had cuddled up between its trainer and the train window, acting as an extremely soft pillow. One of its cottony wings had wrapped over Platinum's shoulder, acting as a small blanket as well. It had then fallen asleep while leaning into Platinum's soft hat, using it as its own pillow.

Platinum's Glaceon was also sleeping in its trainer's embrace. It had taken residence in the gap between its trainer and the table, held securely in her arms while comfortably resting its head on her chest.

Platinum smiled contently as she slept, enjoying the warmth provided by her Altaria and the coolness of her Glaceon in her embrace.

"Aww, isn't that cute…" Blue muttered with a smile.

Y heard her and looked over and grinned as she saw Platinum and her two Pokémon as well. "This is one for the albums…" she whispered as she took a photo of the scene with her camera. She glanced over at the other side of the train and grinned again as she saw Black and White looking out the window while holding hands. "Ooh, another one for the albums…"

Blue looked over at the two Unova Dex Holders and smiled. "They sure suit each other nicely…" she said quietly.

"I wonder why White keeps denying it," Y said in a whisper. "Surely she doesn't think that we haven't noticed yet."

"Maybe she's just embarrassed to openly admit it," Blue suggested. "Like Ruby and Sapphire. Mostly Ruby, I guess. Everyone knows it and can see it, and they know that too. But they just won't say it."

Y briefly contemplated about her own situation before a thought occurred. "What about you? Do you have anyone?"

Blue momentarily paused from the sudden question. She quickly realized that she had sort of walked right into such a question given the topic of conversation. Her eyes briefly flicked towards Red before she quickly looked over at Y.

"Not really, no," she lied, keeping as straight of a face as she could manage.

Y frowned a little as she had seen the brief motion in her senior's eyes. "Something tells me that's not entirely true," she said, casting a glance at Red. "Especially since in your case-"

"I mean it, Y," Blue said hastily, raising her voice.

Y jumped in surprise at the sudden yell. She blinked repeatedly as she wondered why her senior had reacted so abruptly.

Blue realized that she had raised her voice a bit too much. Now Black and White were looking over at her, and Red and Platinum had woken up from their sleep. She quickly lightened her expression. "Sorry."

"What's going on?" White asked.

Y momentarily cast a glance at Red before she devised a story. "I just took a picture of a certain couple holding hands in full view of everyone," she answered. She showed the last saved picture on her camera to White and smiled. "And I was going to try to extort you for it, but… Blue yelled at me to not do that."

"Give me that!" White said, trying to snatch away Y's camera.

Y pulled her hands back and began to laugh. Blue watched her for a moment before she relaxed, mentally thanking the Kalos Dex Holder for lying on her behalf.

"Yelled?" Red asked.

Blue gave him an apologetic smile. "I just got reminded of my past. You know, extortion and all that money stuff."

"It's not like Y intended to remind you of that," Red said. "She didn't even know you when you had to do that."

"I know," Blue said with a nod. She gently put a hand on Y's shoulder. "Sorry for raising my voice."

"It's okay," Y said with a smile, but staring deeply into her eyes.

Blue looked into her junior's eyes as well and clenched her teeth a bit. … Y was probably going to bring this up when they were alone. … Until then, Blue would have to come up with an acceptable answer…

…

Several hours later, Route 35, Johto, 7 pm…

…

Black let out a sigh of relief as he finished setting up the second tent. It was decided that the male Dex Holders would share one tent while the female Dex Holders shared the other one. And since there were four female Dex Holders as opposed to two male, the girls ended up with the bigger tent. And that tent was rather difficult to set up by himself.

Platinum, White, and Y worked together to set up the smaller tent (though they spent more time chatting than anything else), while Red and Blue set up campfires and other necessary preparations to make dinner. … Which then left Black to set up the bigger tent all by himself.

He looked around the campsite and saw White sitting by the campfire, busy preparing dinner while Platinum occasionally told her what to do. Red and Blue were setting up the dishes on the makeshift dinner table, and Y was staring blankly at the slowly darkening sky. Since it was summer, the sun was going to set at least an hour from now, which meant that the Dex Holders could eat dinner without having to worry about illumination.

Black stood up straight and walked towards Y. Now that she was alone, he had something important to ask her.

"Hey, Y," he said once he was close enough.

Y looked over at him with her lollipop still in her mouth. "Hm? What is it?"

"Come over here a minute. I need to talk…" Black frowned a bit. "… Where'd you get a lollipop?"

"Red bought some for me," Y answered. "Want one?"

"But we're going to be eating dinner in a few minutes."

"Yeah, but White is the one making dinner," Y said. "Have you ever had her make food for you?"

Black momentarily thought about all the times he had lunch or dinner with White. "… No."

Y shuddered. "I'd rather spoil my appetite."

Black glanced over at the fireplace, where White was busy preparing dinner. "… Is it really that bad?"

"Horrendous. Way worse than me. I would've preferred if Blue or Miss Platinum made dinner since they're very good at cooking, but White… no."

Black groaned a bit before making a decision. "Okay. Can you spare a lollipop?"

Y rummaged through her bag for a bit before taking out the candy. "Here's an orange flavored one."

"Thanks. Were there any other options?"

"I only had a few left. I'm saving the strawberry one for Miss Platinum since she _loves_ strawberries. And the one I'm eating is grape flavored."

"Okay." Black quickly removed the plastic wrap off of the lollipop and stuck the candy in his mouth. "Anyways. I needed to talk to you for a minute."

"Okay. Go ahead."

Black led Y behind a tent and took a moment to glance around, making sure that no one else was near.

Y did the same, despite not understanding why. She briefly took her lollipop out of her mouth. "So… why are we here, and what's with all the secrecy?"

Black glanced at White in the distance, preparing dinner under Platinum's guidance… and messing up over and over. "You know that Miss President's birthday is coming up in a couple of months, right?"

Y nodded. "Yeah. And what about it?" She suddenly realized something and grinned. "Oh. I see. Thinking of a secret gift, are you?"

"Sort of," Black said sheepishly. "I already bought it. I just don't know if she'd like it."

"What is it? You don't have it on you, do you?"

"No. I left it back home in Unova," Black said. "Seems pretty silly to take it with me to another region when her birthday is still quite a while away. I only bought it already so I wouldn't forget, and have plenty of time to think about what to say." Black leaned in and whispered to her ear. "So that's what I got her."

Y grinned again. "Aww, that's so sweet! She'd love it!"

"Keep your voice down," Black said, casting another glance over the tent. "I don't want Miss President to know yet."

"Weird thing to hear, coming from you," Y said amusedly. "But… why did you tell me this, anyways?"

"I needed an opinion from someone close to Miss President. Preferably you or Platinum," Black said. "But… I don't think Platinum likes me all too well."

Y shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe it's because you're the only junior who calls her by name only."

"What does X call her?"

"… Nothing," Y answered after a moment of thought. "He never talks about her, and if he absolutely must, he does everything he can to not say her name."

"Huh. … Anyways. I also want you to help me with picking the right birthday card. And message."

"Have any ideas?"

Black blushed in embarrassment a bit. "Well, there was a card that said: _This is the most special card in the whole world because…_ And I was going to write: _This is the card meant for you._ … Thoughts?"

Y clamped a hand over her mouth as she began to giggle uncontrollably. "That's so… sweet and… corny!"

"So… is that a good thing?"

Y shuddered but nodded. "I think it's just fine. I don't know where exactly you learned to be that mushy, but… I think you got it right on." She glanced over at White frantically stirring as thick smoke began to billow from the cooking pot. "… Ugh. Looks like Miss Platinum and Blue would have to try to salvage the mess that's known as our dinner. And I'll probably have to help." She glanced at Black and smiled. "But don't worry. I'll keep your mushy secret."

…

3 hours later…

…

Blue exited the "changing room" created by her Ditto, now dressed in her night clothes. By now, all the other Dex Holders were ready to sleep. Red and Black were in the small tent set up for them, most likely discussing battle strategies or whatever guys liked to talk about. And now, Blue was going to crawl into the large tent set up for the girls, about to engage in deep, meaningful, and lengthy conversations… apparently known as "girl talk".

Blue crawled into the large tent as her Ditto morphed back into normal and slimed away somewhere to cuddle up to something _as_ something, so that it could sleep in peace. Blue zipped up the tent entrance shut and turned to face the other three female Dex Holders. They were all dressed in their night clothes as well, hair loosened, and resting in their sleeping bags.

Y stretched her limbs and let out a long yawn. Unlike the others, she had to deal with seasickness earlier that day, so she was very eager to just go to sleep. White was lying on her side while checking her Xtransceiver, looking to see if she had gotten any messages from her two companies that required her immediate attention. And Platinum was seated upright, reading one of the handful of books she had brought from the Berlitz Mansion library. While for _ordinary_ people, a single book was enough for many days, but for Platinum, a single book only provided a few minutes' worth of a distraction, given how fast she could read. Even as Blue got settled in her sleeping bag, Platinum had flipped the page at least a dozen times.

"So, today's been sure enjoyable, right?" Blue asked with a smile.

Platinum stuck a bookmark in between the current pages of her book and looked up at her senior. "Yes. Today has been absolutely fantastic, senior."

"Yeah. A perfect vacation," Y said. "… Except for the dinner."

"Oh, come on. It's not my fault!" White argued. "Why did the ingredients stick to the pot so quickly? I didn't have any time before it started burning."

"The pot was too heated," Blue said. "You only have a limited amount of time when the pot is at the perfect temperature. If it's too hot, things will burn."

"You need more experience in cooking," Platinum said as well. "Perhaps one day, you will become very proficient. Until then, I recommend you practice with Black."

"Is that how you got so good?" Y asked.

"Yes. Diamond has guided me for many, many hours," Platinum said. "At first, I was terrible. I had no experience in cooking. But with Diamond's help, I was able to learn quickly."

"Well, Black isn't a chef, so… that won't help me much," White said with a sigh.

"Maybe you two can learn together," Y said. "Hand in hand."

White groaned and put a hand over her face in embarrassment.

"There is no reason to be embarrassed," Platinum said with a warm smile.

"Yeah. I mean, everyone already knows," Y said teasingly. "You're like Ruby and Sapphire!"

Blue momentarily smiled at the thought about Ruby and Sapphire before she suddenly pulled back in surprise. She quickly looked at Y, who was turning to look over at her now.

' _Is she going to bring that up now?_ ' she thought, clenching her teeth.

"Blue, what about-" Y began, but Blue didn't let her.

She let out a long yawn and stretched her arms. "Oh, wow. I'm just so sleepy now. … I had to wake up early in the morning to prepare lunch."

Y blinked a few times before slightly narrowing her eyes. "… I'm really sleepy too. Unlike most everyone else, I didn't take a nap during the train ride. _And_ I was seasick during the entire trip here, so I didn't get much rest either."

Platinum took off her glasses. "I suppose we should go to sleep now. I expect that we will have an eventful day tomorrow as well, so more rest we get the better."

"Who's going to be making breakfast?" White asked.

"Not you," Y said quickly. "Red is apparently terrible at cooking, and I'm guessing that Black isn't good either. And since Blue made the delicious lunch for us… I guess it'd be up to me and Miss Platinum. … Is that okay, Miss Platinum?"

Platinum nodded. "Certainly. I will gladly contribute to making breakfast for everyone."

"Great! I look forward to it," Y said happily. "So… let's sleep! Good night, everyone."

Platinum gave Blue a polite bow. "Good night, senior Blue."

Blue nodded. "Good night. You too, White."

"Good night."

Blue shut off the lantern illuminating the interior of the tent and lied down in her sleeping bag. She let out a long quiet sigh, glad that she had stopped Y's attempts to lead her into _that_ conversation. … She wasn't ready for it. And she must _never_ explore that thought either.

…

For a while, Blue lay in silence as her juniors slowly drifted off to sleep. Y fell asleep first, as she had a tiring day thus far. White was next, though she had taken another looking at her Xtransceiver, in case something had happened to her companies since the last time she checked her email less than 30 minutes ago. Eventually, satisfied that nothing demanded her attention, she shut off her Xtransceiver and drifted to sleep.

Platinum remained awake for much longer than her two juniors, as she still wasn't accustomed to sleeping in something that wasn't a super expensive bed. And since she had taken a nap on the train (thanks to the comforting embrace of her Altaria), she wasn't _that_ sleepy either. She tossed and turned every now and then for a long while before finally falling asleep.

Now everything in the tent fell silent. Other than three sets of rhythmic breaths, there was no sound whatsoever. Blue silently sighed and closed her eyes. She proceeded to clear her mind of all thoughts so that she could sleep as well.

… But for some reason, she didn't fall asleep. Something felt… off. She felt as if there was some mandatory condition of sleep that wasn't being met. She rolled onto her side, trying to see if changing positions was more comfortable. … It didn't change anything. Instead, she started to feel cold. She curled up into a ball, rubbing her arms to warm herself up.

… Why was it cold? Sure, it was night time, but… it was still summer. She was in a tent shared by _three_ others, and she was in a good quality sleeping bag. There was no reason for her to feel this cold and… empty.

And things were _too_ quiet. Platinum, White, and Y didn't make much sound while asleep. They didn't toss and turn mid-sleep, nor did they snore. Blue frowned and tried to avoid focusing on the silence. Being distracted by a noticeable lack of sound was… weird. How was lack of sound bothering her this much?

Blue suddenly opened her eyes with a slight gasp, as the reason for her discomfort struck abruptly struck her.

… Red wasn't sleeping right next to her.

… For a few months now, Blue had been sleeping next to Red on his bed, and she was now used to his presence. Red lightly snored in his sleep, and tossed and turned every now and then. And his presence itself had provided Blue the warmth that lulled her into sleep. She had often found herself with her back pressed to Red's, enjoying the warmth. His occasional movements gave her the impression that she was not alone. Someone was with her, and _very_ close to her too.

But right now, here she was, trying to sleep by herself. … And it wasn't working. She felt so… alone. The comforting warmth wasn't there anymore, nor were the reassuring snores or movements. Blue silently groaned and put her hands over her eyes. … Even her subconscious _needed_ Red…

… But she could not tell him that. She _must_ not tell him either. … This was an internal struggle that she could not afford to show. And it was very difficult.

Sooner or later, Platinum and White would notice it, as Y has already. And the internal struggle would become much, _much_ more difficult.


	6. Please Confess

Chapter 3: Please Confess

August 11, Route 35, Johto, 7 am…

Platinum slowly opened her eyes as she woke up from her sleep. She could hear someone whispering in the vicinity and she groggily felt around her surroundings for her Pokétch to check for the time. She squinted to see the digital numbers clearly, and noticed that it was only 7 am. She'd prefer to wake up at around 8, or maybe even 8:30.

"Oh, Lady Platinum, are you awake?" came a familiar voice from very close.

Platinum blinked a few times momentarily and soon remembered what was happening. She was currently in a tent shared by three others, and it seemed that White was already awake, and it was probably her who had been whispering moments ago.

Platinum felt around again for her glasses and slowly sat up. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and then put her glasses on so that she could see her junior clearly. "Yes. I am awake. … Though I would have preferred to get another hour of sleep." She now noticed that Y was also awake, but not Blue.

"Good morning, Miss Platinum," Y said quietly with a friendly smile.

"Good morning." Platinum let out a short yawn. "It is still early in the morning. When do you normally wake up?"

"Around 6," White answered. "On most days, anyways. So even during a vacation like this, I just wake up early automatically."

"And I usually wake up around 8. I only woke up early today because _someone_ was bored," Y said grumpily.

"Sorry," White said with a slight laugh. "But there was nothing for me to do, and I didn't want to wake up Lady Platinum so early."

"Then read a book!" Y argued.

"I don't take books with me!" White argued as well. "And I didn't want to borrow Lady Platinum's book without asking her first."

"White, Y, keep your voices down, please," Platinum warned, casting a glance at Blue, who was still asleep.

White and Y quickly clamped their hands over their mouths and looked over at Blue.

The Kanto Dex Holder remained asleep. She mumbled something and lightly tossed and turned. Her mumbles were incomprehensible except for one word, and that sounded awfully like "Red".

Y suddenly perked up and thought intently for a few seconds before she snapped her fingers. She quickly inched her way towards Platinum and dragged White with her, so that they could talk without waking up Blue.

"I actually wanted to discuss this with you," Y said in a whisper. "… Yesterday, on the train, I noticed that Blue sort of… _likes_ Red a lot. And it makes sense too. But for some reason, she's really opposed to the idea. I tried to talk to her about it, but she keeps changing the topic before I can even start."

"Maybe she's just embarrassed?" White suggested.

Y shook her head. "No. She seemed more… afraid, than anything else. She was really quick to… well… shut me up, and I don't think that was because of embarrassment."

Platinum frowned as she recalled all the times she had seen Blue with Red. … She never would've thought that Blue would be _afraid_ of being in a relationship with him…

"I wonder why she'd be afraid," White muttered. "So then someone is going to have to talk to her and find out why, and maybe even convince her that there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Miss Platinum," Y began, interrupting the heiress out of her thoughts. "You're closer to both Red and Blue than either of us. Could you maybe talk to her? Ordinarily, I'd say that this is none of our business, but… I just feel that something might be off."

Platinum sighed. "You are correct. This is none of our business. If senior Blue wishes to not divulge her feelings, we should not intervene."

"But Lady Platinum," White argued. "Nothing's going to happen if we don't do anything. Clearly Blue needs out support and maybe even our help with her feelings. And as her friends and juniors, we should help her out."

"Are we truly helping her?" Platinum asked calmly. "If senior Blue does not wish to discuss this topic, we are being a nuisance and putting her in a _very_ uncomfortable position. We must not intervene in her personal affairs."

"Miss Platinum, Blue seems to be in a bit of a stalemate," Y argued as well. "And if she's really afraid for some reason, then she'll continue to emotionally suffer until this gets resolved. Are we just going to sit by while she suffers endlessly?"

Platinum was about to respond when she noticed that Blue was starting to sit up. "Ah, senior Blue!"

"Morning," Blue said rather groggily. She covered her mouth with a hand and let out a long yawn. "What are you guys talking about?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes. "I woke up because I kept hearing my name…"

White and Y glanced at each other as Blue stretched her arms. Platinum saw her two juniors and realized what was going to happen. They were going to bring up that topic immediately, since she wasn't willing to do it for them. … But were they close enough to Blue to be able to bring up such a topic without risking her getting upset? … No…

"Blue, we just wanted-" White began, but Platinum interrupted her.

"White, Y, would you two begin working on the breakfast?" she asked firmly. "… Senior Blue, I… wish to ask you something… important."

White and Y looked at Platinum in surprise, but soon nodded and left the tent. Y momentarily paused before exiting, as she suddenly realized that White was now involved with making food once again.

Now that they were alone, Platinum let out a long sigh while Blue looked at her curiously.

"So, Platinum," she began. "What did you want to ask me?"

Platinum visibly hesitated, but she knew that there was no turning back anymore. "Senior, please forgive me for my insolence and candor, but… do you have feelings for senior Red?"

Blue almost jumped in surprise. She blinked a few times in rapid succession as she thought of an answer.

"Please be honest, senior. I only wish to assist you."

Blue cast a quick glance at the tent entrance, as she immediately realized that Y had revealed her _big discovery_ to the others already. She bit her lower lip as she wondered if the Kalos Dex Holder had told Red already. … She sincerely hoped that he didn't know yet…

Platinum caught onto her concern. "Senior Red is unaware of this. And if you wish, _we_ will not inform him, either."

Blue narrowed her eyes as she looked at her junior. Platinum slightly averted her gaze, avoiding eye contact, as she wasn't proud of having this conversation. Blue momentarily considered in ending this conversation immediately and maybe even tell Platinum to basically mind her own business, but eventually sighed and lowered her head.

"… Yeah… I do like him…" she mumbled, just loud enough for her junior to hear. She couldn't bring herself to be rude to Platinum.

Platinum put up a warm smile to try to make her feel better. "How long have you liked him?"

Blue smiled a bit as well. "I guess it's been over 10 years now…"

"And you have not informed him yet?" Platinum asked in surprise.

"No," Blue said quickly. "I don't want him to know, ever."

Platinum observed her senior's expression and realized that Y's observation was correct. Blue _was_ afraid. … But why? "… May I ask why you do not wish him to know?"

"… You know how nice Red is," Blue began quietly. "… You know that he deserves the best. … And I'm just not that. He deserves someone far better than me."

"Senior, you are a wonderful person," Platinum argued. "Senior Red would-"

Blue held up a hand. "Listen. You know my past. You know what I've had to deal with my whole life. And you'd know that Red has been the _one_ source of light in my dark life. … I don't want to lose that, ever. There is a chance that he will not like me in the same way that I like him. And there is a chance that if I tell him how I feel, he will be very uncomfortable around me. And if that happens, things will never be the same between us. I will _never_ risk it."

"But senior," Platinum argued. "Senior Red has known you for over a decade. He has been a close friend to you. Why would he not like you? He has invited you to live in his home, and he-"

"That's another reason why I can't tell him," Blue said with a sigh. "If things are uncomfortable between us, I can't stay there anymore. Then I have nowhere else to go."

"But if senior Red had invited you to live with him… does that not mean that he likes you as well?"

"Maybe," Blue said dejectedly. "But… that's yet another reason… … Red has been the one source of light in my dark life, but… I can't be that one darkness in his bright life. Even if he loves me too, I can't allow my bad luck and dark life to harm him. If I'm just living with him as a friend, I can pretend to be cheerful and happy for him. But for our relationship to be anything more, we'll have to let each other into our lives. And if there's a chance that my bad luck and dark life will hurt him, I cannot allow it, ever. I will not take that risk." She let out a long sigh and gave Platinum a bitter smile. "… I've been thinking about this for a _long_ time, Platinum. And I get to the same conclusion every time."

Platinum frowned as she thought of the logic behind Blue's words. There were two choices for Blue: to confess, or not. If she didn't confess, nothing happens and things remain the same. And right now, she was pretty happy. But if she confessed, there were two outcomes: Red could like her as well, or he would not. If he did not like her, then things would be awkward and uncomfortable between them, and Blue did not want that. But even if he did like her, she was afraid that her life would negatively affect him, and she did not want that. So in her perspective, the best course of action was to not say anything.

Platinum didn't like how Blue kept thinking of the worst possible outcome, but she could understand her concerns. Blue was currently happy with her life, or as happy as she had ever been. She would not want to risk a change for the worst.

"I understand, senior," she said quietly. "But I do not agree. … Please forgive me again for my insolence and candor, but… please trust me on this. I believe that you should confess to senior Red. I honestly believe that senior Red likes you as well, which only leaves one concern for you, which is your fear that you will negatively affect him." Platinum momentarily paused as she organized her thoughts. "Firstly, I do not agree with your logic that you will bring bad luck to him. But for the sake of argument, let us suppose that you will bring bad luck. I question which would hurt senior Red more: sharing the burden with you, or knowing that you chose to bear the burden all by yourself." Platinum smiled a bit as she suddenly remembered her friends. "… Diamond and Pearl have taught me about friendship. Friends share both their joy and their burdens amongst each other. They share their joy so their friends can experience it as well, and they share their burden so their friends can help them overcome it. … Senior Red is one of your closest friends, if not the absolute closest. It will hurt him more to know that you are choosing to not share your burden with him."

Blue remained silent for a long while as she thought about her junior's words. "… So, if you're right… then my only concern is if he doesn't like me the way I like him."

"Yes. And I am certain that he likes you as well," Platinum said with a smile of relief. "So please confess to him, senior."

Blue let out a long sigh. "… Okay. … I'll… tell him. … Thanks, Platinum."

"Thank you for trusting me, senior."

"… But I won't tell him now. I… I'm not ready. But trust me when I say this: I _will_ tell him one day. Just… not now."

"I understand." She gave her a polite bow. "And I apologize for-"

Blue waved a hand. "It's fine. … I didn't expect _you_ to bring this up. I thought Y was going to, but… not you." She took a deep breath and took a moment to manage her expression. "Come on, Platinum. We have White working on breakfast now. So let's go out there and take over before she ruins this meal too."

…

Couple of hours later, the 6 Dex Holders finished with the salvaged breakfast, and were preparing to move out again. White and Y were busy cleaning the dishes, and Red and Black were busy dismantling the built tents, leaving Blue and Platinum alone to their thoughts.

Blue leaned against a tree and stared into the horizon with her arms crossed. She occasionally glanced over at Red, thinking deeply about what Platinum had said. Every now and then, she got the courage to walk up to him and confess her feelings. But within a couple of seconds, the courage vanished.

' _Maybe I'll wait until we return home,_ ' she thought with a sigh. ' _I just… can't risk ruining this vacation._ '

Red finished packing up a tent and looked around to see what everyone was doing. Upon spotting Blue and her rather serious expression, he frowned and walked over.

"Hey, Blue," he began stopping right in front of her. "You okay?"

Blue blinked a few times and snapped out of her thoughts. "Ah! Y – Yeah, I'm okay. Just… thinking."

"You seemed kind of sad about something," Red noted. "Is something bothering you?"

Blue smiled and shook her head. "No. It's nothing, really." She slowly rubbed her arm out of embarrassment. "I guess I just… didn't sleep so well last night."

"Why not?" Red asked, keeping his warm smile. "The three juniors giving you trouble?"

"No, but… I guess… I've been sleeping on a bed right next to you for so long, you know?" Blue mumbled timidly, carefully choosing her words. "And suddenly, being in a sleeping bag like that… it's a bit of a sudden change."

Red chuckled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I didn't get a good night's sleep, either."

Blue perked up a bit. "Oh? You too?"

"Yeah. For me, Black was sleeping in the same tent. And let me tell you, that dude is as loud in his sleep as he is awake."

"Oh yeah, that must've been rough," Blue said with a short laugh.

"I guess we'll just have to wait until we get home to have some good sleep."

Blue's cheeks flushed red for a bit and she quickly lowered her head. "I – I'm looking forward to it…" she mumbled, hoping that he wouldn't catch onto the awkwardness.

Red just gave her a nod and a smile and stood next to her for a bit before heading back to help Black pack up the bigger tent. Blue exhaled the breath she had been holding. Okay… she had gotten quite close there, perhaps close enough to gauge Red's reaction. So far so good. Red hadn't reacted negatively to her awkward comment, and was still so unbelievably sweet to her.

Blue put her hands over her cheeks and tried to suppress the blush. … Maybe Platinum was right. She doesn't have anything to fear, after all. … She still felt nervous, though. Throughout her life, if there was one lesson she learned the hard way was that happiness didn't last long before something terrible happened.

But maybe this was the opportunity for her to change her pessimistic tendencies. Just like how meeting Red was the turning point for her life where she was finally able to escape her dark life, maybe confessing to Red and being in a relationship with him could be another turning point for her, where she would finally start looking forward to what was ahead of her.

… Maybe her luck was going to change for the better.

…

Platinum finished feeding her Glaceon and Altaria and looked up. She could see Red and Blue talking, and did her best to gauge their reactions from afar. So far, everything seemed to be good.

Platinum let out a sigh of relief. Though she hated how she had to intervene with a very personal matter, she was glad that she was able to convince Blue to confess to Red, even if she wasn't going to do it any time soon.

Still, she'd prefer to not get involved with such personal topics from now on, unless the other person initiated the conversation.

Platinum left her Pokémon to eat and walked over towards White and Y, who had just finished cleaning the dishes.

"Ah, all done!" Y exclaimed, stretching her arms.

"Well done," Platinum said, examining the sparkling dishes.

White glanced over at Blue before looking at Platinum. "So… how'd it go? I couldn't ask before, since… everyone was there."

"I have convinced her to confess to senior Red," Platinum answered quietly. "But she will do so when she is ready. And until then, we should remain quiet. And please refrain from intervening in personal matters. I had to do it this time because you two were about to, and I was afraid that senior Blue would have gotten upset." She slightly narrowed her eyes, making her two juniors flinch. "And she would have as well. _Fortunately_ , she is not upset. So do not tempt her, please."

"Are you… upset at us?" Y asked nervously.

Platinum stared at her two juniors with unblinking eyes for a while, making them more and more nervous. Platinum's Glaceon seemed to have sensed its trainer's rising ire and walked over.

White and Y glanced down and saw the water drops on the cleaned dishes beginning to freeze, and shivered. Platinum watched their expressions for a while in amusement before lightening her expression.

"No, I am not upset at you," she said as she crouched and gently pet her Glaceon. She glared at her juniors for a brief moment. "But I will be if this happens again. Am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," White and Y said in unison.

Platinum giggled a bit. "Oh, do not be so afraid. I was merely-" she trailed off as she realized her Pokégear was vibrating as it received a call. "Oh? Excuse me for a moment." She walked away to answer the call, leaving White and Y to sigh in relief. Platinum's Glaceon watched them for a second before coughing up a ball of ice and wandered off somewhere.

"Hello?" Platinum said, answering the call.

"Hi, Lady!" came a very familiar voice from the other side.

Platinum's expression instantly brightened."Ah! Diamond!"

"It's great to hear from you again," he said cheerfully.

"Likewise, Diamond," Platinum said happily. "I am sorry for not calling you sooner."

"It's okay, Lady. And oh, I just wanted to let you know and Pearl and I are almost finished with our business here in the Johto Battle Frontier, and soon we're going to be ready to meet up with you."

"Oh, that is fantastic!" Platinum exclaimed. "We are currently in Route 35, north of Goldenrod City. Where should we meet up?"

"We're still in the Battle Frontier. So I guess we'll meet you in Ecruteak City?"

"Understood. Please keep me updated on your positions. Since we are riding the Johto-wide magnet train, we will be able to reach Ecruteak City very quickly. So please tell me when you are close to Ecruteak."

"Will do! We'll see you soon, Lady!"

Platinum soon hung up and smiled brightly as she put her Pokégear away. Now that her friends were coming, the tour of Johto was going to be even better! Especially with Diamond…

The heiress licked her lips, as she suddenly thought about his delicious cooking. She giggled happily and was about to head back to the others when she felt something landing on her head. She looked up and noticed that her Altaria had come to perch on top of her head again. Platinum smiled brightly and reached up to pet its soft wings.

"Good news, Altaria," she said happily. "Diamond and Pearl are coming. Come, we should tell the others so we can reunite with them as fast as possible!"

…

Meanwhile, classified location, Kanto…

…

The division leader gathered his team for the morning meeting. And he was _excited_. He had searched through the databanks in the main server the previous night, and scored a jackpot. He didn't even get caught or suspected for such a search, which was off-limits to him, which felt like a good omen. He felt that the K3 project was now destined to succeed.

"Great news," he said the moment everyone was gathered. "I searched through the main servers and found _everything_ we need.

"What do you mean, _everything_?" one of the assistants asked.

"The solutions to our major problems," the leader clarified. "The boss keeps track of a certain group of people, and the bios on them contained enough information to solve all of our problems. For our funding problem, we have a target. We will have to kidnap the only daughter of the famous Berlitz family of Sinnoh. Normally, such a task would be daunting, as the family is unbelievably rich, therefore has all sorts of security measures to prevent kidnapping, but according to our intel, the daughter is not in Sinnoh right now. She was last seen in Vermillion City harbor yesterday, so it's safe to assume that she's still here in Kanto, or at the very least, Johto. This is the best opportunity to snatch her."

"What other details do we have on this girl?"

The leader put up a large picture of her on the board. "This is what she looks like. She's currently 18 years old. Her exact battling proficiency is unknown, however given her record, it's safe to assume that she's really powerful. Attempting to kidnap her with a frontal attack is guaranteed to fail, especially since she's here in Kanto likely visiting friends. So we'll have to track her down and then look for an opportunity to discreetly snatch her."

"She doesn't look physically imposing," one assistant commented.

"Such an impression is dangerous," the leader warned. "There is a girl on the database who doesn't look physically imposing but actually has monstrous strength and physical prowess. Fortunately, the Berlitz girl is not that one." The leader put up another picture. "This girl is the solution to our Rotom problem. Not only does she have a Rotom, but she also has a specially designed Pokédex that the Rotom can enter and freely control. That Pokédex and the Rotom are our priority. We need to snatch them so we can study the interface for our K3 project. According to our database, she is currently in the region of Alola."

"So we'll need to send a small group over, track her down, and steal the Pokédex," one assistant muttered. "How is her battling proficiency? I doubt we can snatch the Rotom and the Pokédex without a battle happening."

"Unknown," the leader answered. "But she should be the easiest target out of all three. Just in case, take precaution." He put up a final picture. "And this… is our volunteer. She doesn't know that she's our volunteer, but that's irrelevant. Based on preliminary matching, she's suitable for the K3 project by 99%. Safe to say, we won't be finding a better candidate than her. However, she's probably the most difficult target out of all three. Snatching her would be very difficult. But again, for now, we should just focus on tracking all three targets."

"Where does this girl live?"

The leader smiled. "Right here in Kanto. She had been living in the Sevii Islands until recently, when she moved to mainland Kanto. Which means locating and tracking her wouldn't be nearly as difficult as the other targets. Now, here are the folders containing information about our three targets. So let's get going, people. Project K3 awaits us!"


	7. Derailed

Chapter 4: Derailed

Classified location, Kanto, 10 am…

"We found the targets," the assistant said, quickly entering the division leader's office. "Our surveillance of the magnet train stations in Johto came up with these shots, taken just half an hour ago."

The division leader quickly took the photos and examined them. He soon spotted two of the three primary targets close to each other, clearly friendly and talking to each other.

"So they know each other and are friendly," he noted, formulating a plan. "Hmm… then taking one might lead us to the other…" He crossed his arms and thought for a while before facing his assistant again. "Do we know where they're going, and where they are currently?"

"Yes. The train they boarded is for a leisurely tour of Johto. It departed Goldenrod City about 20 minutes ago, heading towards Azalea Town. It will then go to Violet City, and then Ecruteak, before finishing its run in Goldenrod."

"We'll have to intercept them then. Send the word to the team in Johto. Snatch them. Take both if possible, but don't risk it. This has to be inconspicuous to avoid suspicion. But we need to snatch one of them today, preferably our financial target. While we don't know where the target will disembark, since she's from Sinnoh and this is a tour of Johto, it's safe to assume that she will not be getting off at Azalea or Violet City. So we have to intercept her before she reaches Ecruteak City. So let's get to it."

"Yes sir."

…

Route 36, Johto, 2 pm…

…

The scout watched the train leisurely approaching the intersection between Goldenrod, Ecruteak, and Violet City. He zoomed in with the binoculars and looked through the windows, scanning all the passengers for the targets. Before long, he was able to spot the target girl sitting on the window seat, next to a blonde girl.

"Target spotted," he reported through the communication device. "The target is in the window seat in the 6th car of the train. She is sitting next to a blonde girl."

"Affirmative," came a response. "Our agent is on the move."

The scout scanned the windows around the target and was soon able to spot the agent approaching the target girl while carrying a cup of iced coffee. The agent reached the target and pretended to trip, _accidentally_ spilling the iced coffee on the target girl and the blonde girl sitting next to her.

The scout focused on the expressions of the two girls. They were annoyed, but did not appear suspicious. The blonde girl seemed quite angry, and was saying something but the target girl was able to calm her down. The agent apologized to them over and over before resuming his course to the restroom, and occupying it. The two girls climbed out of their seats, with the intent of going to the restrooms to clean themselves up, but since the restroom on their train car was occupied, they would have no choice but to go to another train car to reach its restroom.

"Target is on the move," the scout reported.

"The target will reach the zone in 23.58 seconds and will exit the zone in 27.32 seconds," came an automated voice from the communication device.

"We have a complication," the scout reported. "There is another girl accompanying the target. They're going to be in the target zone together. What do we do?"

"That's rather annoying," the team leader said through the device. "Now there is a risk that the other girl will collide into our target and kill her. … But we don't have the time. We'll have to take the chances."

"The target is approaching the threshold," the scout reported. "She is in the lead and the other girl is right behind her."

"What are the odds of success, K2?" the team leader asked.

"The target has an 83.7% probability of survival," replied the automated voice.

"… Go for it. Commence sabotage."

…

"Ah, this sucks," Y grumbled as she followed Platinum down the hall of the train car. "Stupid coffee…"

Platinum let out a sigh. "Yes, this is rather annoying. We will have to change our clothes once we disembark the train and get to the Pokémon Center of Ecruteak. … We will also have to wash our clothes as well." She took a sniff of her forearm. "… We will also need to take a bath. The smell of coffee is lingering. … I wonder if Ecruteak City has a famous bathhouse…"

The two soon reached the end of the train car and Platinum pressed the button to open the door. Platinum stepped into the threshold between the two train cars and Y followed. The door slid shut behind them and Platinum was about to reach the other door when the whole train shook violently and suddenly accelerated dramatically, sending the two girls tumbling backwards into the door. But with a loud thud coming from ahead, the train came to a sudden halt, sending them flying into the closed door in front of them.

Platinum braced herself just before she collided into the steel door, but the impact was still enough to knock her unconscious.

Y also braced herself for impact, but quickly relaxed as her instinct and experience took over. Thanks to the years of experience as a Sky Trainer, she was quite used to sudden changes in momentum and even high speed crashes. If she tensed up, the impact would do a lot more damage. So she loosened up and effectively rolled as she hit the steel wall, greatly lessening the impact.

As she shook off the effects of the collision, she could feel the train car crunching as it rolled, as if the whole train was derailed from its tracks and was now tumbling uncontrollably thanks to its leftover momentum.

Y managed a glance over at Platinum, and noticed that she was completely limp, as if unconscious. Y pushed off of the wall when the time was right and quickly wrapped her arms around her senior, so that the heiress would not repeatedly collide into the walls of the threshold between the rolling train cars.

The rubbery material that surrounded the threshold began to rip, as it was never intended to stretch as much as it did when the two connected train cars were parallel to one another, along with receiving severe external force from rolling around.

After what seemed like an hour despite being mere seconds, the train car came to a halt. Y remained on alert for a bit before starting to relax. She let out a groan and looked at Platinum in her arms. The heiress was still unconscious, lying on top of her. Y carefully set her down on the ground and after finding her glasses that had fallen off during the chaos, dragged her towards the opening in the surrounding material.

The rubbery material had ripped open much wider, allowing Y to drag Platinum through it to the outside without incident. Y dragged Platinum until they were far enough away from the train to be safe from unexpected accidents.

"Miss Platinum! Can you hear me?" she yelled as she began shaking her senior. "Please wake up!"

Platinum soon stirred and slowly opened her eyes. She put a hand on her head and groaned a little as she sat up. "… Y? … What happened?"

Y handed her the glasses and looked over at the train wreck. "… I don't know. Maybe the train hit something?"

Platinum recalled the last moments before she had lost consciousness. "… The train accelerated drastically before suddenly coming to a halt. Perhaps the magnet train rails were damaged and malfunctioned." She snapped out of her thoughts as she remembered something else. "The others! We must find them!" She hastily put her glasses back on and struggled to stand.

Y quickly helped Platinum up to her feet and the two ran towards the train wreck. Y spotted where she had exited the wreck, and using that as reference, backtracked her steps to reach the train car where she had been sitting.

The train car was upside down, with the top half crunched up. The window frames were flattened to the point where it was impossible to crawl through, or even peer through.

"Senior Red? Senior Blue?" Platinum called out as she struck the steel wall. "Black? White?"

Y tried to see if she could force the crushed window frame open a bit. "Ugh. It's no use…" She glanced around to see if there were any possible other entry points, but soon paused as she saw a small group of people running over. "Hey! Please help us!" she shouted, jumping up and down while waving her arms.

The group ran towards the two Dex Holders even faster now. Y focused back on the train to see if she could find another entry point, while Platinum constantly tried to reach out to the others still stuck inside.

Y suddenly yelped as she felt something strike her back hard, with enough force to slam her into the train. She groggily turned around to see what just happened, and was surprised to see that the group that had run over was looking hostile for some reason.

The leading man in the group stomped her on the chest, slamming her hard into the steel train again, this time with more than enough force to knock her unconscious. Platinum gasped in shock as Y passed out and slid down the wall to the ground.

"Y!" she exclaimed as she tried to crouch next to her junior.

But two members of the hostile group had grabbed her arms to pull her away while the third one clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. And even as Platinum desperately struggled, the last member of the group wrapped an arm around her throat and choked her out until she stopped struggling and passed out.

"Messy," one of the members muttered. "Should've gone with sedatives."

"No. Remember, we can't risk the chemicals in the sedatives interfering with what we're going to do to her," the team leader said.

"What should we do with this one?" another member asked, looking down at Y. "She saw us. We can't leave her here. Nor can we kill her here without arousing suspicion."

"Take her too," the leader replied. "This one clearly means a lot to the target. We can use that. Now let's get going before anyone sees us."

"No one else is outside the train," the scout reported. "But people will be coming to investigate. So you have to get out of there fast."

"Will do. Let's move, people."

…

Classified location, Johto, 3 pm…

…

"As expected, this one's not within an acceptable range. But _this_ one is at 95% compatibility. We could use her for the project instead of the other target."

"While that's true, this one seems lacking in certain criteria while excelling in others. While we can certainly use some of the data we gain from this one, we can't base our entire project on her."

"Oh? Looks like she's coming around. Let's see if we can get some more data."

…

Platinum steadily woke up and slowly opened her eyes. She tried to move her arms and realized that her arms were tied behind her. She quickly blinked repeatedly to clear her vision and looked down. She was sitting on a large chair of sorts, and her legs were tied up as well. She glanced around and saw that she was in a large, empty room. And in the corner of the room, Y was lying face down on the floor. She too, had her arms tied behind her and her legs tied together as well.

"Y! Can you hear me?" Platinum called out. "Are you okay?"

Y didn't budge, and remained motionless. … Was she dead? Platinum quickly shook away the thought. She focused on the rope binding her wrists together behind her and tried to move her arms a bit. As she tried to reposition her arms, she noticed that there were wires touching her arms, and then noticed that the object on her head was not her hat, but rather, some sort of device. The wires were coming from that device to an unknown direction, as she couldn't look behind her from her current predicament.

"Good to see you're awake," came an unfamiliar voice from behind.

Platinum tried to look, but only caught a glimpse of a white lab coat. The kidnapper soon came around so that she could look at his face. The kidnapper was wearing what appeared to be a surgical mask and hat, which made his unique features unknown. Platinum narrowed her eyes, trying to memorize as much of his visible facial features as possible, so that she would be able to identify him once… _if_ she escaped.

"What do you want?" she demanded, trying to remain as calm as possible.

"Straight to the point, I see? Well then, to put it simply, we need a lot of money. And you are going to help us with that. Surely one of your bank accounts would have more than enough to help us without ruining you. After all, you are Platinum Berlitz, the heiress of a famously wealthy family."

"I will never assist you," Platinum said with a huff, rather surprised that the kidnapper knew her.

"Of course you won't," the kidnapper said. "Not this easily, anyways. So now you're going to help me with a bit of research. It won't be pleasant for you, in the slightest. But we'll see how it goes."

Platinum clenched her teeth and held her breath a bit to prepare herself. "… I am not afraid of you, or whatever you intend to do."

"Everyone is afraid of something," the kidnapper said as he glanced into a handheld device of some sort. "It's just a matter of finding what you are afraid of in particular."

Platinum kept a firm cold expression. The kidnapper smirked and put the device away and took out something from his coat pocket. The heiress could see that it was a knife, and took a moment to brace herself.

The kidnapper walked towards her and put the tip of the blade on the exposed part of her left leg between her stocking and her shorts. Platinum winced a bit at the sudden stinging pain from her thigh, but remained firm. She wasn't going to give in.

The kidnapper simply gauged her reaction and moved the knife so the tip now rested on her neck. Platinum didn't even flinch. It seemed that a simple death threat wasn't going to work. She definitely already knew that she was required for whatever he desired, so he was not going to kill her or hurt her too much. So these kinds of _bluffs_ were not working. Perhaps extreme physical pain would work, but that was a last resort.

Platinum ignored the empty threat and chose to focus on her current situation. … Things didn't add up. She was in an accident on a train that caused the whole train to derail and flip over. And she was kidnapped very quickly after that accident. While it was possible that random people nearby with evil intentions could've witnessed the accident and chose to kidnap her, _this_ didn't make sense. What was this device on her head? And what research? This whole situation indicated that this kidnapping wasn't a random or compulsive one, but was orchestrated for some greater purpose. And based on how quickly she was snatched at the train wreck, Platinum knew that the train wreck itself was also orchestrated. … Was the man with the coffee also a part of this? Or was that an unrelated incident?

… But if she was going to be kidnapped at the train wreck, it would've been much, much harder to do so if she was stuck inside the train car when it flipped over. … Like her seniors and Black and White, who she could only hope were safe and unharmed during the train wreck. So if she was still inside, the kidnappers would not have taken her. So were they aiming to get her out of the train during the crash, so they could snatch her before anyone noticed? … But how could they have predicted her movements and timed their acts so accordingly?

And the kidnapper _knew_ about her wealth. He knew who she was. … This was definitely not a random kidnapping. This was planned. Which meant whatever _they_ were planning that needed money must be stopped. … More reasons why Platinum must not give in to her kidnapper's demands.

The kidnapper dragged Y into her vision. Platinum snapped out of her thoughts and her eyes opened wide for a brief moment. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but it seemed that the kidnappers had _interrogated_ her junior, and violently too. Y was looking pretty bruised up, and was still clearly unconscious.

"So, what would happen if I were to make your _junior_ here suffer?" the kidnapper asked, holding up the unconscious girl by her throat.

Platinum's eyes shook a little, and appeared slightly troubled. She quickly regained composure, and her expression turned rigid once more. But in the inside, she was starting to lose control. ' _… How does he know that Y is my junior? Who are these people, and how do they know so much? … And what should I do? Do I save Y and give in to evil? Or do I resist and cause her more harm?_ '

The kidnapper tossed Y aside and took out his handheld device again. He glanced at its screen and smirked. "Oh, that seems to have gotten a response," he said, much to Platinum's great surprise.

Y began to cough as she was rudely brought back to consciousness from crashing into the floor. The kidnapper grabbed her by her feet and dragged her towards the wall and attached the rope binding her ankles to a hook, and raised the hook, effectively hanging Y upside down. He raised her until her head was at least a meter off of the floor and after casting a glance at Platinum, punched her in the stomach, slamming her into the wall at the same time.

Y gasped and began to cough violently as she writhed in agony. Platinum winced as well, and struggled a lot more against the ropes binding her limbs.

"What do you think?" the kidnapper asked Y. "Your senior over there would rather watch you suffer than to give up _some_ of her money. And you know how rich she is. Now that seems very harsh."

"Screw… you…" Y gasped out in between coughs. "Miss Platinum! … Please don't give in…"

"Y… I am so sorry…" Platinum said, her voice shaking. "Please do not hate me… I… will not give in!"

The kidnapper shrugged and looked at Y again. "That's too bad for you. Looks like we'll have to kill you in a bit. But for now, you can just watch, and reconsider your options. Maybe you can convince your senior."

He looked at his device again and walked up towards Platinum. The heiress gave him a deadly glare. … Regardless of what this greater purpose was, she was sure that her resistance would delay it. If she resisted long enough, then surely the other Dex Holders in the train wreck would be able to escape and notice that she and Y were missing. And they would undoubtedly search for them, along with Diamond and Pearl. Given enough time, they would certainly find them and save them.

A thought suddenly occurred and she felt herself panicking a little. ' _… I do not have my bag. I left it in my seat in the train. So my Pokégear, Pokédex, and everything else are all in there. … How will my seniors find me without those? Y does not have her belongings with her either. She left them in her seat as well. … Without our devices, senior Blue cannot trace our location… … Are we trapped here forever with no possibility of being saved? … Is my resistance meaningless?_ '

The kidnapper watched her reactions carefully and glanced at the device again. "… You've been doing a lot of thinking. And it seems like you realized just how serious your situation is. You are trapped here with no hopes of escape or rescue. Which means, I can do _whatever_ I want to you for as long as I want. Your resistance only brings suffering for you and your precious junior."

Platinum gasped as she sensed a slight surge of fear inside her. The kidnapper took his knife out once again and this time, placed the tip on her chin. He slowly moved the tip down, not actually scratching at her skin, tracing a path down her neck, between the collarbones, until the blade rested on the edge of her shirt.

Platinum's eyes widened a lot more as she realized where this was headed. The kidnapper gauged her reaction and glanced at his device. The heiress began to lightly tremble as her fear started to overwhelm her. She could feel the knife slowly cutting into her shirt. She clenched her eyes shut as she felt tears threatening to form. She didn't want to give in to her kidnapper's demands. But… _this_ was too much.

Despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but to imagine her fate. She imagined being _violated_ by the kidnapper and felt a severe pang of panic. Her breaths accelerated and her heart began to race. ' _No… no… no! I – I can't…_ '

"No! No! You bastard!" Y screamed out from the side. "Leave her alone!"

Platinum's eyes opened at the sound of her voice and glanced over. Her vision started to blur as she realized that Y was next. Once the kidnapper was finished with her, he would undoubtedly do the same to her junior. … She felt sick. She had to stop this… but…

The kidnapper moved the knife further down again, cutting about a centimeter of her shirt. Platinum audibly gasped and clenched her eyes shut again.

' _Ah… Diamond! Please… help me…_ ' she desperately pleaded inside. ' _Please… save me!_ '

"… Ah, that's what it takes," the kidnapper said, looking at his handheld device again. He smirked and put the knife away. "A loved one, I see?"

Platinum's eyes snapped open. ' _What… what? How? Does he know Diamond as well?_ '

The kidnapper glanced at his device. "What's his name… Diamond, is it?" He smirked as he looked at her expression. "… Diamond from Twinleaf Town in Sinnoh…"

Platinum started to visibly panic. ' _How? How?! Is he… is he reading my mind? Is the device on my head allowing him to see my thoughts? But… how is…_ ' A new thought struck her and she began to hyperventilate. ' _Did I… did I endanger Diamond? … By selfishly resisting, did I… bring harm to_ _ **him**_ _?_ '

"I'd imagine that someone like you, who's been lonely for most of her life, would be attached to what little friends she managed to make," the kidnapper said. "Which means, your attachments to your two _precious_ friends, Diamond and Pearl of Twinleaf Town, would be much stronger than most. Especially if you _love_ one of them. And what do you know? Both of them were spotted here in Johto, which makes it so much easier for us to find them, and _hurt_ them," he said, slowly and deliberately. "A piece of cake, since they will not be expecting trouble. And if they manage to escape… we already know where they live. They won't be able to hide from us."

Platinum couldn't help but imagine her two beloved friends, ambushed in their own homes in Twinleaf Town, lying on the ground badly hurt. … And she couldn't handle it.

"N – No… please…" she sobbed out, shaking her head. "I… I don't…"

"And what about those still on that train?" the kidnapper asked. "They're still on that upside-down train car, dazed and confused. Easy targets. Are you willing to let them die, just so you can resist for no reason?"

Platinum began to scream. Her screams quickly turned into uncontrollable wails as her mental defenses shattered and her mind broke down. The kidnapper glanced at his device again and nodded with a smile.

"Miss… Platinum…" Y muttered, her eyes open wide in shock. She had never seen her senior like _this_ before…

"So, will you cooperate?" the kidnapper asked.

Platinum frantically nodded. "Y – Yes… yes… Please…"

"Good."

…

"Looks like we were able to get a lot of data off of her brain waves. She has provided us a lot of valuable data as well. Now we know what type of pulse will break down someone like her. Though it took some trial and error to reach the frequency we needed. Extrapolating on that data is required for other people with different brain waves, but we are incapable of doing that right now. There are far too many variables and conditions."

"Until we get K3 up and running, it would be impossible. Now then, get that girl to give us her bank information. And once we confirm the funds are in, terminate both of them."

"Yes sir."


	8. The Escape

Chapter 5: The Escape

August 11, Route 36, Johto, 2:10 pm…

Red groaned and slowly opened his eyes. … What the hell happened? At one moment, he was talking to Blue, and next moment, he was slammed forward into the table and back into his seat with enough force to briefly knock him unconscious. And now, he found himself lying on the ceiling of the upside-down train car.

He slowly pushed himself up a little, just enough to see around himself. The interior of the train car was hellacious, as there were people and luggage strewn about everywhere.

"Ungh…" came a soft voice from below.

Red looked down and saw Blue lying on the train car roof below him, looking to be in pain. Red quickly crawled off and sat next to her. He gently pulled Blue closer to him and shook her by her shoulders. She didn't seem to be particularly injured, but she had a few ugly bruises visible on her face and arms, undoubtedly caused by being tossed around in the train car when it was derailed.

"Blue? Are you okay?"

Blue began to cough and put a hand over her chest as she regained consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes and pulled back in surprise when she saw Red's face right up close to hers.

"R – Red!" she stammered out.

"Are you okay?" Red asked again as he watched her expression.

Blue feigned a cough to conceal her embarrassment and nodded. She pulled away from him and sat up, briefly wondering if this was what Red had felt a few years ago when the situation was reversed. She lightly shook her head. No, this wasn't the time.

She forced herself to look away from Red, and scanned the chaos around her, trying to find Black and White. She soon found familiar luggage bags, and spotted Black and White lying unconscious underneath.

Red pulled Black out of the pile of bags while Blue tended to White. Fortunately, neither of them was injured, so they were able to wake up pretty quickly.

"Ow, ow… What happened?" White asked as she put a hand on the side of her head.

"Train flipped, but I don't know why," Blue answered.

Black glanced around at the wreckage. "So… what do we do now?"

"First things first," Red began. "We have to find Platinum and Y. They were headed to the washroom, so they weren't seated when the train flipped. We have to find them and see if they're okay. After that, we'll have to get out of here."

White looked really alarmed. "L – Lady Platinum? Y?" She frantically looked around, but only saw piles of luggage and other people. "Oh no… oh no…"

"Stay calm, White. We'll find them," Red said. "Black, see if you can cut through the train wall."

Black reached into his pocket and took out a Pokéball. There wasn't a lot of space in the train car, so a big Pokémon couldn't be used, which was why Red hadn't tried to use his Poliwrath to punch through the wall. But Black's newest Pokémon wasn't that big, so…

Since there wasn't a lot of room, Black just pressed the button to send out his Bisharp. "Sharp, try to cut through the wall here so we can all escape!"

The Bisharp had to crouch to avoid bumping its head on the tables above, but nodded in acknowledgement. It crawled over towards the wall and rammed its arm-blades repeatedly until the steel wall gave way and the blades pierced through.

While the Bisharp hacked away at the wall, White crawled towards the washroom of the train car, trying to see if she could even get a glimpse of Platinum and Y. She couldn't make much progress thanks to the blockade formed by heavy luggage and the bodies of the other passengers.

"Lady Platinum?! Y?!" she called out, but her voice was soon buried by the cacophony of the other passengers' moans and cries. "Damn it…"

"We're through!" Black said, as his Bisharp had successfully cut a block of the wall, big enough for people to crawl through.

"Okay, let's get out of here," Red said, rising to his knees. "Then we'll start by making more of these holes to get everyone else out. Then we can look for Platinum and Y, since it won't be so cluttered around here."

…

For over an hour, the four Dex Holders assisted the emergency response teams in cutting off sections of the trains to rescue all the trapped people. They looked at every passenger crawling out of the train, but none of them were Platinum or Y.

White even took Platinum and Y's bags and sent out their Altaria and Fletchinder so that the two Pokémon could look for their trainers from the skies, but still nothing.

"This is strange," Blue said as she nursed a particularly painful bruise on her side. "Platinum and Y wouldn't have gone far to reach the washrooms. Not to mention, the train flipped shortly after they left. But the fact that we still haven't seen them…"

"Where could they have gone?" White asked quietly, her hands pressed against her heart in worry.

"The emergency guys haven't seen them either," Red said as he came back. "No one has seen Platinum or Y anywhere."

White glanced at Black, who had his Musharna nibbling on his head, and sincerely hoped that he could find some clues.

"We could use Y's Zweilous," Blue suggested. "Deino and Zweilous can't see, so their other senses would've developed stronger. So if the Zweilous can catch the scent of Y's perfume… or even the coffee that spilled on her and Platinum…"

"But is it going to listen to us?" White asked. "That Zweilous was pretty hostile to everyone other than Y."

"… Yeah. That's the problem, isn't it?" Blue said with a sigh.

White suddenly jumped a bit in surprise when she heard chimes coming from inside one of the bags she was carrying. She searched through the bags and soon found Platinum's Pokégear chiming as it received a call.

Red checked the Pokégear and saw that it was Diamond calling. He took the device from White's hand and answered.

"Hey, Dia, it's Red," he began. "Did you-"

"We're in Ecruteak City, and we just saw the news. Are you okay? Where's the Lady?" Diamond asked frantically.

Red let out a sigh. "The train derailed, we don't know why. We're all okay, but… we can't find Platinum and Y."

For a long while, Diamond didn't respond, and Red could only imagine that it was due to shock, and/or relaying the information to Pearl.

"… What… what do you mean, you can't _find_ her?" Diamond asked, his voice shaking.

"They were heading to the washroom when the train flipped," Red answered. "And we don't know where they went. We looked everywhere, but we can't find them. No one has seen them either. Listen, we're trying our best to find them, but we have no idea what happened. Can you and Pearl come down here and help us? More people the better, right?"

"Yes, of course. We're on our way. Please just keep us updated."

"Will do."

Black reached up and removed the Musharna from his head. "Okay… let's see…" He went up to the train car, and looked at the seats where the two missing girls had taken. "They were sitting here, and then some guy spilled coffee on them, so they headed towards the washroom that way." He walked down the length of the train car, as if he was tracing their movement. "But the washroom was occupied, so they would've had to gone to the next one, which means they would've had to cross over to the next train car…" He stopped in front of a large gaping hole in the joint between the two train cars. "… But they didn't have the time to reach the washroom on the other side of the train car. Which means they had to have been on this train car, or maybe even before reaching it, when the whole train flipped."

Red and Blue gasped as they ran over towards the joint area.

"Could they be trapped _under_ the train?" Blue asked in horror.

Red cursed and sent out his Poliwrath. Blue clenched her teeth and sent out her Blastoise, and White sent out Platinum's Empoleon. Black tilted his head, as he briefly wondered how the two girls would've gotten underneath the train given the circumstances, but sent out his Emboar to assist nonetheless. The four Pokémon worked together and managed to lift the joint section of the train and the adjacent cars enough for Blue to peek under with her modified Silph Scope.

"Are they… there?" White asked, afraid of the answer. _Both_ possible answers were bad.

Blue shook her head. "No. There's nothing there." She took off her Silph Scope and sighed. "That's good… and bad. Good because they're not crushed under the train, but bad since we still don't know where they are."

Black crossed his arms as he thought. "… This was the direction those two headed, and this rip in the joint area was the only way they could've left the train in any way. But the fact that they're not here…"

"They wouldn't have gone anywhere while the rest of us were still trapped in the train," Red said. "They would've tried to reach us and pull us out. If anything, they should still be around here. … But they're not."

"Could they have been taken?" Blue suggested. "They should still be in the train if they didn't fall out. But they're not in the train. If they fell out, they should be around here. They're not. If they fell out and were okay, they'd still be around here, trying to save us. … They're not. That means they fell out of the train but were not okay. The only thing that makes sense is that they fell out and were taken away by someone."

"It's a long shot, but that's the only thing that makes any amount of sense here," Red said. "… But if they were taken… we have no way of finding them."

…

Meanwhile, classified location, Johto…

…

"The funding won't be a problem anymore. It'll take some time to confirm that all of the transfer has been completed, but the money is coming in now."

"Excellent. Once the transfer is completed, terminate the two girls. Until then, keep scanning her neural patterns. This girl showed a lot of potential for the K3 project, so any data is bound to be helpful. And prepare to purge everything. Once the transfer has been noticed by the Berlitz family, they will most certainly try to track us. So we'll have to lay low for a while, and we'll use that time to develop the basis of K3."

"Understood."

…

Y clenched her teeth as she watched the kidnapper force Platinum back into her _torture chair_. The heiress looked broken. She offered no resistance whatsoever and her eyes were only half open. Even as the kidnapper tied her arms to the chair again, she simply sat slumped over.

The kidnapper soon left the room, probably to go discuss something with his buddies, leaving Platinum and Y by themselves. The kidnapper probably figured that nothing could possibly happen, since both girls were tied up pretty tight, and with Platinum broken and Y hanging upside down, they weren't in any position to do anything.

Platinum remained slumped over in her chair, motionless. The weird machine on her head had a small green light blinking. Y didn't know what that meant, but knew that it couldn't be good. She had to get out and _fast_.

She squirmed as she tried to reposition her hands and wrists. The rope binding her wrists together was very tight, so she couldn't make much progress in trying to slip her hands out of the bind.

Y gritted her teeth as the effects of being hung upside down were beginning to get worse. She had to get out of this predicament and free Platinum before the kidnapper came back. … He had already gotten what he wanted out of Platinum. The next time he came back, he would be completely free to do whatever he wanted. And Y knew that she couldn't stick around for that.

She looked at her feet and the ropes binding her ankles together. Her boots were removed beforehand, and her ankles were tied pretty tight. The knot was placed on the hook, and by the looks of it, the hook wasn't that big. And fortunately, the hook was affixed pretty tight on the wall, so it would not be moving as Y tried to squirm off.

Y took a deep breath and forced her upper body to bend, as if she was doing a sit-up. It took a tremendous amount of effort since she was hanging upside down, but she was able to get her head at least up to her knee level.

Now the next part was going to be tricky. She adjusted the position of her hands so that both of her palms would touch the wall once she "let go". After counting to three to get ready, she stopped fighting gravity with her upper body, letting herself uncurl quickly. The moment her palms hit the wall, she immediately pushed the wall towards the floor, effectively pushing herself up in the opposite direction, which immediately removed all resistance of the hook holding the knot for a split second. And in that split second, Y used the momentum of her fall to pull her feet down, as if she was in the middle of doing a back-flip, freeing her feet from the hook.

She fell quickly, and she tucked her knees closer to her chest so that her feet would swing down faster. And because of that, she was able to land on her feet and not on her head. She bent her knees to lessen the impact and it caused her to roll backwards until she was lying on her back.

Y let out a sigh of relief and took a moment to regular her breathing. Now that she was free and her blood was flowing evenly throughout her body, she could move on to untying the ropes binding her limbs together.

She pulled her feet up and uncoiled her body, using the momentum to spring up to her feet. She was still in a very _annoying_ predicament, though, since her ankles and knees were bound together, and her wrists were as well behind her. So all she could do right now was hop around.

She hopped around to get to a better position and dove forward into a forward roll, while crunching up her body and swinging her arms in the opposite direction. Once the forward roll finished and she had rolled up to her feet again, her hands were now tied in front of her, and not behind her. And now that she could, she immediately began working on loosening the bind on her wrist using her teeth.

Within a few minutes, Y was able to untie all the ropes that were binding her limbs together, and took a moment to massage her sore limbs.

She quickly scrambled up to her feet once her limbs felt good enough, and crouched in front of Platinum.

… The heiress was still sitting there motionless, her eyes half-open. Y felt around her senior's throat for her pulse, and was relieved to feel it on her fingertips. … But what had happened to her? She seemed to be in shock… What did that bastard do?

Y looked at the machine on Platinum's head and reached over to take it off, but stopped mid-reach. The kidnapper was using this machine to monitor something. And based on what she had seen and heard, Y surmised that the kidnapper was using it to scan Platinum's thought patterns or brainwaves. Which meant that if she was to remove this device from her senior's head, the kidnapper would notice immediately and come over to investigate. And right now, Y didn't have an escape plan, so she would just be trapped in this room when the kidnapper and his buddies barged in.

"I'm sorry, Miss Platinum, but… please hang in there for a bit longer," Y whispered as she put her hands on her senior's cheeks. Platinum was still in her strange comatose-like trance and didn't move an inch.

Y forced herself to move away from her senior and glanced around the room. There was a door and a keypad next to it, and it was where the kidnapper had exited. There was no way for Y to even guess at what the code was going to be, so that wasn't a viable exit. Not to mention, a keypad door would likely set off an alarm upon three incorrect codes, and probably make a lot of noise when it opened.

She spotted her boots lying on the corner of the room and went over to retrieve them. Sooner or later, she'd probably have to run, and running on just stockings wouldn't last long.

Y went over to investigate the hook where she had been hung upside down. There was a long indent of sorts on the wall, and that was where the hook was. And the fact that the hook was raised while being attached to the wall indicated that there was some sort of machinery on the other side. … So this "room" had some large machines right outside the walls? … But why? Is this room a part of some much larger complex? If that's the case, then there's probably another exit somewhere…

She did a quick scan around the whole room, but failed to find any secret hatches or any other exits. There wasn't enough time to do a thorough scan or to meticulously examine every square inch of the walls, and Y didn't have the peace of mind to do that either. She was in a hurry; she had to find a way out before the kidnappers came back.

' _There's no way out…_ ' she thought, feeling a bit of panic in the back of her mind. ' _There's only one exit, and that'll run straight into the kidnappers… But do I have a choice? There's nothing else I can do…_ ' She looked over at Platinum, still sitting slumped over. ' _Fighting through the kidnappers alone is hard enough, especially if there are a lot more of their friends around. But doing so while carrying Miss Platinum is going to be impossible. … But I can't leave her here… I have no choice!_ ' Y ran over towards Platinum and pulled the strange machine off of her head and ripped the wires out. She then quickly untied the rope binding her limbs and then crouched in front of her. "Miss Platinum! Can you hear me?"

"… Y…" the heiress mumbled out, her eyes still rather empty and unfocused.

Y clenched her teeth and glanced at the keypad locked door. "… Please hang on tight. We're going to escape!"

She lifted her senior onto her back and ran towards the door. She slightly lowered herself, getting ready for the moment the door opened. This would be her only opportunity to escape, and if this failed, she would die here along with Platinum.

As expected, the door soon opened as the kidnapper came to investigate why the machine had been disconnected. The moment the door opened, Y charged forward and rammed her boot into his chest, slamming him against the wall at the same time, getting revenge for what the kidnappers did to her in the train wreck.

The man was caught off guard, as he certainly didn't expect Y to be free and ready to strike. The kick hit him hard, and the collision into the wall was enough to knock the wind out of him for a few seconds, giving Y plenty of time to hop over his body and run like hell.

Y had expected to be in the middle of some large facility, but instead found herself in a small hallway with one small room on the opposite side of the large "torture" room, and the exit to the staircase on the other end of the hallway. The door to the small room began to open and Y just sprinted towards the stairs.

She ran up the stairs as many steps at a time as possible and soon reached the top. The exit door on top didn't require a keypad, and instead, was an old rusted door. The other side of the door was a big abandoned warehouse of sorts.

"… What the hell…" Y muttered between breaths, quickly looking left and right to find a way out of the warehouse. There were a lot of large boxes covered in dust that blocked her field of view. She wanted to climb on top of the boxes to hide from the pursuers and to see around her a lot better, but it wasn't possible while carrying Platinum on her back.

Y ran straight to the right. She figured that the pursuers were going to know where the exits were, so if she spent time to evade them by zigzagging around the boxes, she would get surrounded. So she had to reach the exits before the pursuers did, and she figured that a warehouse like this would have more than one door, so left or right should both lead her to an exit.

Her assumptions were correct. As she heard the angry voices of pursuers behind her, she saw the exit door a little to the left. She reached the door and managed to unlock and open it before the pursuers reached her. She narrowly slipped through the open door just before the pursuers grabbed her.

Y momentarily paused. She was on top of a cliff that faced the _ocean_ , so sprinting in that direction wasn't going to work. She glanced backwards and saw a forest. Perfect! She spun around and sprinted towards the warehouse, but had to stop after just a few steps as several guys came out of the warehouse. Y had no idea how many people were in this weird underground secret base, but clearly there were more than just the four kidnappers. There was almost a dozen guys out here right now, surrounding her in a semicircle. Getting through them would not happen.

"Sh*t…" Y cursed as she slowly stepped backwards, until her heel was at the very edge of the cliff. She weighed her options. Fighting through a dozen guys would not work out. Outrunning them would not work when she was already surrounded. Y glanced backwards at the ocean about 50m below her. … She couldn't swim at all. Jumping into the water would only spell doom for her, even though there weren't any rocks down there. … Was there just no way out?

"Y…" Platinum began, her voice still weak. "… _Jump_."

"Are you sure?" Y asked in surprise.

"… Yes… It is the only choice we have…" she said, just as the surrounding pursuers began to charge forward.

Y gasped and momentarily froze in terror, but quickly hardened her resolve. "The hell with it!" She spun around on her heel to face the ocean and leapt forward as far as she could just before the leading pursuer's hand could reach her.

And in a blink of an eye, the two Dex Holders plummeted straight towards the ocean.

…

"They escaped."

"How?"

"We don't know. We tied them up and even hung one upside down, and yet they escaped. They reached outside and jumped off the cliff into the water."

"… While it's probable that they died, we have to consider the possibility that they survived the fall. We need to evacuate this base. Empty it out, so when people come to investigate, they see nothing whatsoever. Even if the two girls survived, it doesn't change the fact that we got what we wanted. Now we can pursue the target in Alola. Send a small group while the rest of us prepare for what's to come next."


	9. The Raid

**So… this update took 5 months. … Hmm…**

 **Some more Dex Holders' teams have been overhauled and edited. The overhaul posts are on my Tumblr. So far in Legacy, the following Dex Holders have overhauled teams: Blue, Gold, Emerald, Pearl, Platinum, and Y. The following Dex Holders have updated teams: Crystal, Diamond, Black, and White.**

* * *

Chapter 6: The Raid

August 11, unknown location, Johto, 4 pm…

Platinum and Y plummeted towards the water far below them. Y was used to freefall and thus was able to stay focused, but was terrified of the fact that she was going to be in _deep water_. The water was approaching far too quickly for her comfort, and could already feel the panic starting to grow in the back of her mind.

Y glanced to her side and saw Platinum also in freefall. The heiress had never really been in freefall like this in normal gravity, and either because of that or the fact that she hadn't fully recovered from her trance, she seemed to be locked up and tensed as well. Y gasped as her panic was starting to surface. She was definitely going to sink underwater. She would need Platinum to save her and pull her out of the water. But if the heiress was also tensed up and thus was not able to save her…

"Miss Platinum!" Y cried out, unable to suppress her desperation. "Please! You have to-"

Before she could finish, she hit the water surface and immediately sank deep underwater from the momentum of the fall. And Y quickly realized that she hadn't prepared for this. She didn't breathe in deep and held her breath. She was in the middle of screaming out to Platinum, thus had barely any air in her lungs already.

Platinum had also sank equally deep as Y, but unlike the Kalos Dex Holder, the heiress seemed too relaxed, almost as if she had lost consciousness again. But thankfully, she opened her eyes as coming into sudden contact with cold water greatly helped her in snapping out of her strange mental trance. She blinked a couple of times and met Y's eyes as the younger girl frantically clawed and kicked at the water despite sinking deeper.

Platinum noticed that she also hadn't been holding her breath, so she quickly kicked at the water to reach the surface. Y watched in horror as her senior and her _lifeline_ swam up towards the surface and away from her, as if abandoning her. She quickly stretched a hand towards the heiress, as if screaming at her for help. Platinum reached the water surface and gasped for air. She kept kicking at the water so that she could keep her head above the surface, until she took enough breaths. She shook her head to clear her mind and after taking a deep breath, she dived underwater to try to save Y.

Y felt relief washing over her when she saw her senior diving underwater once more. She kicked upwards as much as she could and stretched her hand towards her again. She could feel her vision beginning to tunnel as she began to suffer the effects of suffocation. Platinum reached down with her hand as well, but much to Y's horror, she _stopped_ just before grabbing her hand.

' _Miss Platinum! What… what are you…_ ' Y thought in panic, as she looked into her senior's eyes. Platinum looked as cold and calculating as ever, as she stared at her with unblinking eyes. ' _Please! Save me!_ '

But Platinum pulled her hand back, keeping out of her junior's reach. Y's mouth fell open in shock, and the last of her air bubbled out of her mouth.

Platinum winced as she saw the pained and betrayed expression on her junior's face in between the air bubbles. ' _I am so sorry, Y…_ ' she thought as she clenched her teeth. ' _But… I cannot save you right now. … I have to wait. … You are too panicked. If I reach for you, you will end up pulling me down. I cannot match your strength, and we will both drown… I will save you, Y. But you must wait a little longer…_ ' She averted her gaze to not see her junior's hurt and betrayed expression and let a little bit of her air escape past her lips as her natural buoyancy slowly dragged her up towards the water surface.

Y frantically shook her head as she saw her senior slowly drifting further away. ' _No, no! Miss Platinum! Don't leave me! No!_ ' She opened her mouth once more in an attempt to cry out and in her panic, she gasped for air. And instantly, a mouthful of water entered her body, causing her to immediately try to take another breath, which only allowed more water to enter. Y reached towards her mouth with her hands as she realized her fatal mistake. But it was already too late. More water kept entering her system. She briefly thrashed around in panic but her body soon locked up and she began to sink as her world turned black. She made one last desperate reach towards her senior before she passed out, but as her vision faded, she could see her senior quickly swimming towards her…

…

Meanwhile, New Bark Town…

…

Gold opened the door to the basement, ready for some post-snack pool game. Perhaps now that he had a tasty snack before dinner, he'd be able to break his personal record? But as he entered the basement, he realized that his attempts at breaking his record weren't possible anymore. One of his new Pokémon, Houndour, was currently napping on the pool table, lying flat on its back with its little paws resting while pointing upwards. The Houndour's hind leg occasionally kicked up at the air as it snored happily.

"… Well, there goes the game," Gold said with a sigh.

He walked up to the pool table and looked at his Pokémon. … Normally, a Pokémon like Houndour would prefer to sleep on its belly, and not flat on its back. But this one was either mimicking a sleeping human, or is just… weird, since it was fast asleep while lying flat on its back.

Gold carefully put a hand on the Houndour's belly and scratched it, causing the little Pokémon to whimper happily. It began to lightly kick at the air with its front legs now, but still remained asleep.

Suddenly, there was a loud static like noise from upstairs, as if someone just turned on the TV and went to an unavailable channel. The static noise soon got replaced by random disjointed voices and other sound effects, as if that person was flipping through a variety of channels with the volume on annoyingly high. Gold sighed as his Houndour woke up from the annoying noises.

"Sorry, Houndtaro," he said as he pet the Houndour's head. "Looks like that freeloader is getting _too_ comfortable around here."

The Houndour growled and Gold could feel its body temperature rapidly rising. He gave it a series of gentle pets to calm it down, and the Houndour acknowledged its trainer's wishes and calmed down. It still looked a bit disgruntled at having its nap interrupted rudely. It then looked up at its trainer expectantly, wagging its little tail.

Gold understood what the little Pokémon wanted and went over to fetch a snack from the shelf. He held the snack high above the Houndour, and it rose up to its hind legs while trying to reach the snack with its front legs. Gold soon let the Houndour have the snack, which it devoured pretty quickly. The Houndour looked off to the side and let out a satisfied burp in the form of a small flame, which dissipated shortly.

"Must've been a spicy meatball, eh?" Gold said with a chuckle, petting the Houndour again. The Pokémon barked a couple of times in happiness, and wagged its tail again. "Want to go out for a walk, bud?"

The Houndour barked excitedly and hopped off of the pool table, eager to go. Gold chuckled and grabbed the Pokéballs of his other Pokémon. His Houndour reached the door at the top of the stairs and began to lightly claw at the door. Gold opened the door and shook his head with a sigh as he heard the unfortunately familiar theme of a certain robot show. His Houndour momentarily growled at the loud noise, but headed towards the front door, clawing at the door again.

"All right, all right, Hountaro," Gold said as he quickened his pace. "Let's get out of this loud place and start having some quiet fun!"

…

Gold watched his Houndour sprinting towards the thrown compressed billiard cue. The little Pokémon bit the cue to grab it and then ran back towards its trainer.

"Good boy, Hountaro," Gold said as he took back his billiard cue and petted the Houndour. The Houndour barked excitedly and waited for him to throw the cue again. "All right, now let's see how quickly you return this time!" He pulled his hand back and prepared to throw the cue as far as he could. But as he did so, he heard an annoyed whistle of sorts from above, forcing him to stop. "Whoops. Sorry, Litaro," he said as he slowly reached with his other hand to the top of his head, where his Litwick was resting. The Litwick let loose a small burst of flame from its tip, expressing its frustration at being swung around like so thanks to its trainer's sudden movements. "Okay. Here goes!" Being careful to prevent the Litwick from swinging around so much again, he threw the cue as far as he could.

The Houndour sprinted towards the cue once more, barking excitedly. Gold watched the Houndour run before shifting his attention to his last new Pokémon to see what it was up to. The Larvitar was digging a small hole in the ground with its hands. And Gold couldn't help but think that the Larvitar looked like one of those little orphans in the Violet City orphanage, playing at a sandbox.

Gold walked over towards the Larvitar, and just as he was a step away, the Larvitar shoved a handful of dirt into its mouth. … Yep. Definitely like that orphan…

"Hey, Li'l Tartaro," he called out, crouching next to the Larvitar. "… Let's not eat _too_ much dirt, huh? We don't want dozens of potholes all over New Bark Town."

The Larvitar raised a hand as acknowledgement as it munched on the dirt. There was a muffled bark from behind and Gold turned around to see his Houndour with the billiard cue in its mouth. Well then… another round of fetch!

And for a long while, Gold played with the Houndour. Sometimes he would throw his billiard cue. Sometimes he would run around and get the Houndour to chase him. And sometimes he would chase the Houndour.

Gold came to a stop when his Pokégear started to ring. He checked the device and noticed that it was Crystal calling him. "Oh, hey, Crys. What's up?" he asked. "Our Week 21 check-up isn't for another day or two."

"No, it's not that. Listen, Blue just called me," Crystal began, her voice shaking a little. "… And to put it simply, Platinum and Y have gone missing somewhere between Goldenrod and Ecruteak. And it seems that they were _taken_ by someone. Can you and Silver come over here to Violet City? We'll need to search around northern Violet City and Route 36."

"Right. I'll be there shortly," Gold said with a nod. "But… if those two were taken… searching from the skies isn't really going to do anything. It's not like they'll be in plain sight somewhere."

"I know, but we can't be doing nothing," Crystal said. "At the very least, we'll be in the vicinity ready if they show up somewhere, or we get a new hint."

"Okay. I'll see you soon." Gold hung up and stared at the Pokégear briefly. … Another call to action, huh? … So be it. He put his Pokégear away and looked at his Pokémon. The Houndour looked up at him curiously. The Litwick was no longer dozing off, as it recognized the serious tone in its trainer's voice. And the Larvitar was lying on its back with an extremely satisfied face, as it had just finished eating its own volume's worth of dirt, looking like a miniature Snorlax. "All right guys. Time to move. We're going to Violet City to maybe kick some bad guys in their rear. So let's get going!"

He returned his three Pokémon and headed back into his house to fetch Silver. The _freeloader_ was seated at the couch, watching a rerun of his damned favorite robot show… very loudly. Gold stepped in front of the television, blocking his view.

"Dude, move," Silver said, looking quite annoyed.

Gold simply lowered the television volume to acceptable levels before shutting it off. "We have to go to Violet City right now. There's been a call to arms, freeloader. Crys needs us to meet up with her right now."

"… Call to arms?" Silver asked, tilting his head. "… Like what?"

"Super Formal Gal and Sky Girl have gone missing somewhere between Goldenrod, Ecruteak, and Violet City. And apparently they've been _taken_ by someone. And so we're going to look for them. So, you know the music. Time to dance." He turned away and headed towards the front door, but paused midway. "Unless of course, you want me to tell senior Blue that you didn't want to come because you didn't want to miss a rerun of a robot show."

Silver slowly rose to his feet. He briefly checked his pockets to make sure he still had his Pokémon on him. "All right. Let's roll."

…

Meanwhile…

…

Platinum reached the surface of the water and gasped for air, as she kicked at the water below to stay afloat. She grunted with exertion as she tried to keep Y's head above the water surface as well. The Kalos Dex Holder was unconscious, but still very tensed up, making it difficult for Platinum to keep herself afloat with her junior.

She looked up the cliff where she had jumped. Her pursuers were out of sight. … Were they not going to see where their captives were, or if they're even alive? … Did they not care anymore, since they already got what they wanted?

Platinum clenched her teeth. … Her kidnappers were going to regret this. Once she regrouped with the others, she would tell Red and Blue where this base was, and they would assault this base together.

… But first things first. She had to get out of this water, resuscitate Y, and then find a way to contact the other Dex Holders.

Platinum glanced around for the nearest shore. The nearest shore was to her right, and it wasn't too far away. She proceeded to slowly kick at the water while pulling Y, being careful to keep her head above water. And as she swam, she noticed that the body of water was not an ocean as she had initially thought, but a lake. This wasn't salt water, which certainly helped in the event of accidentally swallowing the water, but not when trying to swim.

Platinum mentally brought up the map of Johto she had studied not too long ago. If she was in an ocean near where the train was derailed, that would mean she was currently either east of Ecruteak City, or west of Goldenrod. But if she was in a large lake, then she had to be near the northern end of Violet City… Then would it be possible to reach Crystal?

She soon reached the shore and pulled Y onto dry land. The blonde girl wasn't breathing, and had a trickle of water flowing from her mouth. Platinum tried shaking her first, but nothing happened. Her pulse was strong at least. Platinum tapped her junior on the cheek, first lightly but gradually increasing in power.

Y soon stirred and began to cough up the water she had swallowed. Platinum sighed in relief and pulled back, giving her junior some space. Y coughed violently for a minute or so before finally calming down and opening her eyes. She saw Platinum and she quickly sat up, a mix of emotions appearing on her face.

"I am so sorry, Y," Platinum said, lowering her head a little, as she immediately noticed one of the emotions visible on her junior's face. "I did not have a choice. You were too panicked. If I had tried to rescue you, you would have pulled me underwater, and we both would have drowned. I had to wait until you were unable to struggle."

Y clenched her teeth, feeling very angry, but not at Platinum. She admitted that if the heiress had reached out for her, Y would've pulled her under while trying to reach the surface. The feeling of betrayal hurt her, but she more felt angry at her own helplessness. … Maybe after things had settled down again, she could start taking swimming lessons or something…

Y put a hand on her chest and took a couple of shuddering breaths as she recalled the terrifying moments where she thought that her senior had abandoned her to her fate. She still felt the urge to lash out, but held her tongue. And besides, in that kidnapper's facility, when Platinum had that weird machine on her head, Y didn't save her immediately either, as she knew that doing so would only be bad for both of them. So… they were even now.

"I… understand," she managed to say eventually. "You still saved me, so… thank you for that."

Platinum smiled and gently hugged her junior. "And thank you for saving me in that facility. You were incredible, having freed yourself and single-handedly breaking out."

Y blushed at the sudden compliment and rubbed the back of her neck embarrassedly. "Um… yeah, I guess, hehe…"

Platinum slowly rose to her feet. "Now come. We must find a way to contact the others. They are probably looking for us from above. They will be easy to spot if we are close enough."

Y rose to her feet and took a look around. "… Where even are we, anyways?"

"The water is not salty. It is not the ocean," Platinum said, pointing at the water where they had fallen. "From what I have seen on the map, the only lakes close by the train wreck site is the ones in the northern parts of Violet City. So assuming we were not taken somewhere too far away, we should be close to Violet City."

"So then we can spot the Sprout Tower in the distance," Y said, looking around once more. "Ah, these trees are too tall though…"

"We will head towards the direction of the sun. Given the current time, the sun should be in the south-southwest direction. If we head a bit to the east away from the sun, we should be heading towards Violet City."

With that, the two girls began to walk. There was a small trail between the trees, but since they didn't know where this trail led, they opted to follow the shore of the lake, but from the forest. They didn't want to be spotted by their kidnappers, but being close to the lake meant that if they spotted anyone familiar flying around in the skies, they could get out to the open quickly to signal them.

Within half an hour, as the two girls walked, the lake grew wider and wider until it seemingly blocked their path south. But from here, they could see the Sprout Tower of Violet City on the other side of the water. And in the distance near the top of the Sprout Tower was a small dot of an aerial transport Pokémon flying around.

Y jumped and waved at the small dot while Platinum tried to reflect sunlight off of her Pokétch screen to get the dot's attention quickly.

From the other side of the lake, Crystal quickly turned to look at a shining object in the distance that caught her eye. She squinted to get a better look, but it seemed like a glass-like object reflecting sunlight… that wasn't there a few minutes ago. She got her Xatu to fly over much close for a better look, and sure enough, she was able to see Y jumping up and down while waving at her and Platinum standing next to her.

"Gold, I found them!" Crystal quickly reported through her Pokégear. "They're north of the Sprout Tower. Tell Red and Blue, and we'll meet up in the Pokémon Center!"

The Xatu flew over to Platinum and Y as fast as possible, allowing Crystal to meet up with her lost juniors quickly.

"Crystal!" Y shouted happily once her senior was close enough.

Crystal freed herself from her Xatu's telekinetic grip and ran over towards her juniors. "I'm so glad you're both safe!" she said as she embraced the two girls. "Are you two hurt?"

"We are okay, senior Crystal," Platinum said with a relieved smile. "… But… we do have a problem…"

"You were kidnapped, right?" Crystal asked. "Blue told me that you two were probably taken. … We'll have to deal with that. But first, come on, let's go to the Pokémon Center and meet up with the others. We'll discuss what to do next."

…

Half an hour later, 6 pm…

…

Diamond and Pearl were the last to arrive at the Violet City Pokémon Center. Diamond rushed in as soon as he returned his Skarmory, and ran towards Platinum.

"Lady! You're okay!" he said as he quickly hugged her.

Platinum put an arm around him and smiled warmly. "Yes. I am okay. I apologize for worrying you."

"I'm really glad you're safe, Miss Lady," Pearl said with a smile. "So… what happened to you?"

Platinum and Y took turns in explaining what had happened to them since the train wreck, and Platinum's analysis of the situation.

"That's… really scary," White said, putting a hand over her heart. "They pulled off such an elaborate kidnapping, and got what they wanted… They… _succeeded_ …"

"We'll have to raid this base of theirs," Red said, crossing his arms. "Do you remember where it was?"

"Yes, senior," Platinum answered. "It is on top of a cliff overlooking the lakes up north."

"That would make it easy to spot," Black said. "I doubt there'll be too many similar looking buildings in similar hills near the similar lakes."

"Then let's raid them right now," Red said.

"… The fact that they didn't bother chasing Platinum and Y when they jumped is unnerving," Blue said with a sigh. "… That means they either thought you two died, or they don't care. If they don't care, that means they're aware of the possibility that you two would meet up with us again, and that we would raid them. So it's possible that they're waiting for us to attack them."

Gold glanced around their tables in the Pokémon Center. "But there are 11 of us there. Surely these kidnappers won't be ready for _all_ of us at once."

"True," Blue said. "… All right. Let's go, then, before the sun sets. The sun won't fully set for another couple of hours, so we don't have too long."

…

A few minutes later, the Dex Holders were able to locate the warehouse which served as the kidnappers' facility. Fortunately, there was nothing remotely similar in the vicinity, which made identification very easy.

Gold landed near the warehouse first, and hopped off of his Togekiss. He slowly stepped towards the warehouse window and peeked inside. … There were no movements anywhere.

Red and Blue landed next, and Blue began to scan the area with her modified Silph Scope. There were no readings on her thermal, and night vision showed nothing hidden in the dark shadows within the warehouse. She sent out her new Starmie, which promptly camouflaged itself to match the interior of the warehouse and floated up towards the ceiling, scanning on top of the boxes and between the rows of the stacked boxes for anything like an ambush. … So far, nothing.

One by one, the other Dex Holders landed near the warehouse. Satisfied that there was nothing like an ambush here, Red and Blue signaled the others to gather around.

"Okay, so far so good," Red began. "Now, we can't all go in there, so half of us will have to stay outside and make sure nothing comes in to surprise us."

"Platinum and Y, you two are coming with us," Blue said. "You two have been inside, so you'll know what we're looking at. Gold, Silver, Pearl, Black, and White, you guys stay up here and watch our backs."

"Got it," Silver said with a nod. "I'll be on lookout in case something comes our way."

"Good. Let's move," Red said. He crept into the warehouse and looked up. He spotted the faint red glow of Blue's Starmie. Since the Pokémon was not flashing its core, Red assumed that all was clear and proceeded forward.

They soon came across the door that led downstairs. Blue stepped towards the door and quietly pushed her snake camera under the door to see what was on the other side. She looked at her Pokégear's screen as she moved the snake cam left and right, but even in night vision, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Thermal vision revealed nothing either.

Blue withdrew the snake cam and quietly opened the door. With her modified Silph Scope, she checked for any kind of traps, cameras, laser sensors, and the likes, but found nothing.

"This is where those guys came from," Y whispered, pointing at the door where the kidnappers' buddies have emerged from. "We didn't get to see what was inside though."

Blue checked with her snake cam again before opening the door. The room was pretty big and there were old dusty furniture scattered around, as if this was some kind of abandoned recreation room. A break room perhaps, for some employees who used to work in the warehouse.

"Status report," Crystal whispered into her Pokégear.

"All clear up here," Gold replied. "How are things on your end?"

"All clear here too. But that's what worries me," Crystal answered. "… I'll keep you posted."

"I will too. Good luck."

Y stopped in front of the only remaining door. "… This was a keypad locked door," she said, looking at the old wooden door that was in front of her. "… How did…"

Blue checked with her snake cam once again before opening the door. She glanced around here and there, but… this large room was _completely_ empty. She reached for the lights and flicked them on, illuminating the whole place.

"… Are you sure this is the right place?" Red asked as he walked into the large empty room. "This place looks like it's been deserted for a decade," he said, looking at the dusty floors.

"Yes, I am certain that this is the correct place," Platinum answered. "There were no other candidates in the vicinity. This has to be the place. … I do not understand what is going on…"

"Let's search the area. Who knows what we'll find," Y suggested, entering the large room.

Blue switched her modified Silph Scope to electromagnetic mode, to see if she could spot any electronics. But everything remained dark in her view, as there was nothing electronic anywhere, other than the wires that were connected to the lights above. But given what Platinum and Y went through, this _had_ to be the right place. Seeing it empty like this… it was very unnerving. Blue kept her guard up and meticulously scanned the walls and the floors.

Platinum and Y were looking around as well, shocked by how different everything looked. Y walked up towards the wall where she had been hung upside down. She glanced at the entrance to the room, and noted that the wall where the keypad had been was simply eroded away. But the angle and the view of the door matched her memories. … This was the right wall.

"… There was a hook here that the guy raised while I was hanging upside down," she said, putting a hand on the empty wall.

Blue stopped at a particular wall. Her modified Silph Scope's electromagnetic vision caught something that the naked eye would not have been able to see. She leaned in a bit closer and raised the scope a bit to check with her bare eyes first.

"What's wrong?" Crystal asked as she walked up to her senior.

"This wall…" Blue began, putting a hand on the wall. "… This one has faint traces of wiring behind it. All the others don't, but this one does. The only other wire connects to the lights above, but these wires don't seem to be connected to anything."

"Wait, this wall doesn't have anything either?" Y asked, pointing to where she was hung upside down. "But… the hook was raised by a machine…"

"If they unplugged the machine, the wires would be inactive, and then I wouldn't be able to see it in the EM mode," Blue explained. "But there are a few wires behind this one that are still active. They're still powered up by something."

"What does that mean?" Crystal asked.

"It means that this wall is probably a secret doorway," Blue answered. "And those wires used to connect to a button or a panel or something that would be used to lift a secret hatch that would be impossible to see otherwise. But it looks like the wires had been severed so that we can't trigger the hatch anymore."

"So we can't open the secret door anymore," Diamond said. "So… what now?"

Blue crossed her arms and thought for a while. "… Right now, we can't do anything. But… this is real bad. This means that whoever took Platinum and Y are very organized, has a ton of assets and manpower, and is smart enough to have predicted that we would raid this place, so they preemptively evacuated and cleaned up the place to make it look like an old abandoned warehouse. … This is not a random kidnapping. These guys knew exactly what they were doing. And worst of all, they got what they wanted without consequences. So… what's next on their agenda?"

"And we don't know anything about them," Y muttered. "… Yeah, this is real bad…"

"Platinum, you'll have to trace your bank transfers," Blue said. "These guys got their money from you through a bank transfer. If these guys were very thorough, they would've made sure to use an offshore account that won't be pointing in their direction, but it's worth a shot anyways. At the very least, it'll give us an idea of how competent these guys are."

"Yes, senior. I will begin the investigation as soon as possible," Platinum said with a nod.

"And everyone, listen. Whoever these guys are… they're dangerous. I don't think they'll be targeting Platinum and Y anymore since they already got what they wanted, but we'll all have to be very careful. We don't know who these guys are or what they want. So we don't know when they'll strike next, and who their next target is, if there are any. But based on what Platinum and Y went through, it seems that these guys know who we are, so it's likely that we are still their target. Our only option is to remain as vigilant as possible until they strike again. So everyone, be very careful…" Blue slowly put a hand over her heart, as she suddenly had a terrible feeling about all this. "… We'll _all_ have to be very, very careful…"

* * *

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